Basic Trope: An in-universe belief that betrayal is a particularly vile action.
- Straight: Tom has committed quite a few murders, but his most heinous crime is considered to be betraying The Good Kingdom to The Empire.
- Exaggerated:
- Tom betrays The Empire to The Good Kingdom. Even though his betrayal was vital to the Kingdom's eventual victory, everyone wants him dead once the war is over.
- Tom, a citizen of The Good Kingdom, tries to offer The Empire some valuable intel. Even the Empire is so disgusted by this action that they not only refuse to take it, but hand him over to the Kingdom so that he can be tried and likely executed, as they think he deserves. Several high-ranking Empire officers even take the trouble to testify against him.
- Traitors are always executed in horrible ways. All other criminals get a couple of years in a Luxury Prison Suite at worst.
- Downplayed:
- When The Good Kingdom is occupied by The Empire, The Quislings and their fellow collaborators are slightly more despised than the actual occupiers.
- The maximum punishment for treason is 21 years in jail. The maximum punishment for other felonies is 20 years.
- There's an unwritten rule that rightfully convicted traitors are never pardoned and never have their sentences commuted. However, treason is one out of four crimes to get this treatment, with the other three being rape, slavery and poison murder.
- The punishment for for espionage is death. Any enemy convicted receives a soldier's death by firing squad, as they died serving their country. Any citizen however, receives the shameful death of hanging.
- Justified:
- Tom's treason could, directly or indirectly, lead to the deaths of many of his fellow citizens in war. It could also contribute to the takeover of The Good Kingdom by The Empire, which is not exactly interested in the well-being of Tom's countrymen. Therefore it makes sense to view Tom's treason as worse than murder.
- The Empire, knowing that Tom is a traitor, fears that he wouldn't hesitate to turn against them later on.
- The work is set in a feudally organized culture, where loyalty placed much, much higher in the hierarchy of virtues than in modern western society.
- Tom gives a monologue about how The Emperor has promised him absolute power "like a god" for his treason.
- Inverted:
- Betrayal is considered heroic.
- Tom betrays The Good Kingdom, and angrily explains that "sticking it to that dumb king" is in no way comparable with murder, which he would never commit.
- Tom betrays The Empire to The Good Kingdom. His former allies consider the betrayal so minor in the grand scheme of things that even when they recapture him, he's Not Worth Killing.
- Subverted:
- Treason is the only crime punishable by death. However, in practice, most traitors get jail sentences no worse than those of any other felons.
- Tom is initially considered unforgivable for betraying The Good Kingdom to The Empire. Then the heroes learn that a Government Conspiracy within the Kingdom sought to have him murdered because He Knows Too Much, and grudgingly admit he had no choice but to side with the only group who wasn't actively trying to kill him.
- Double Subverted: While most ex-convicts are left alone after serving their sentence, traitors are usually lynched within days of being freed. The police deliberately turn a blind eye to this.
- Parodied:
- Emperor Evulz has committed genocide, but the time he "betrayed" a childhood friend by forgetting to invite her for his birthday party when he was 10 is treated as his ultimate crime.
- Traitors are sentenced to thousands of years in jail. Murderers "only" get a hundred years.
- Tom's list of crimes are read aloud and his charge of treason is given the Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking treatment. It still makes everybody become more disgusted than the charges of genocide, rape, child molesting and one billion dollars in unpaid parking tickets.
- A traitor, a rapist, a kinslayer, a hate criminal, and a slave owner all attempt to outdo each other in terms of being the eviler person.
- Zig Zagged: Traitors from The Good Kingdom are treated as evil. Traitors from The Empire are sometimes sympathetic, depending on their motivation.
- Averted:
- Tom's treason is treated as morally reprehensible, but no more or less so than the numerous acts of murder and torture he has previously engaged in.
- Emperor Evulz is treacherous, while Empress Belladonna isn't. The conflict between the two is treated as Order Versus Chaos Evil Versus Evil, and Belladonna's reliability does not get her portrayed as A Lighter Shade of Black.
- Enforced: The writer lives in a country with an oppressive government that loves punishing "traitors" for trivial offences like criticizing their politics. Said oppressive government forces the writer to push the idea that "treason" is the worst crime there is.
- Lampshaded: Two random citizens of The Good Kingdom talk about how weird it is that you'd have to commit genocide to get the same punishment as a traitor.
- Invoked: A character argues to Emperor Evulz that he shouldn't betray his Mooks because that would cross the Moral Event Horizon, even though he's had dozens of people killed so far. Evulz agrees.
- Exploited:
- Tom is looking to make the hero with a Thou Shalt Not Kill rule defy his principles. Knowing that Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil, he betrays The Good Kingdom the hopes that this will drive the hero into a murderous rage.
- Even though Emperor Evulz is a Complete Monster, he makes a big show of his loyalty and of killing traitors on the spot — not because he has an actual moral objection to betrayal, but because his society's hatred of traitors is so powerful that these actions are enough to make him a Villain with Good Publicity.
- Someone who really hates Tom frames him for treason.
- Defied: The heroes refuse to hold Tom's betrayal in particular contempt over his other crimes.
- Discussed: Several characters discuss whether Tom's treason warrants a death sentence.
- Conversed: "Man, our friends are really pissed about Tom's betrayal. Not really focusing on his murders, are they?"
- Implied: Tom the traitor is only criminal shown to be executed.
- Deconstructed:
- Tom murders dozens of his fellow citizens to cover up his treason. A traitor is already considered irredeemably evil, so why hold back?
- The hatred for and paranoia about traitors lead to a Witch Hunt in which the alleged traitors — most of whom are innocent — receive horrible punishments.
- Reconstructed:
- Even without holding back, Tom isn't the most skilled fighter, and is ultimately defeated. He doesn't just get punished for treachery, but also his incompetence at it.
- The captured innocents ultimately prove their loyalty by hunting down traitors that are actually guilty.
- Played For Laughs: Tom is subjected to the harshest punishment The Good Kingdom has to offer, which is reserved for traitors. It's a two-year soap opera marathon.
- Played For Drama:
- Tom lives in The Empire and hates it, but knows that if he tries to join The Good Kingdom instead, everyone will see him as a vile traitor.
- Tom is framed for treason. If he's unable to prove his innocence, he will most likely be executed...
- The Kingdom goes through a brutal civil war, with both sides seeing the other as traitors.
- Played For Horror: The villain is a Serial Killer willing to target anyone who has done anything that resembles betrayal.
Back to Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil.
