Paedo Hunt is too ambiguous.

Baring the fact that the description for Pædo Hunt is rather short, it's also quite unclear and inconsistent with the examples.

Is it just about a villain being a child molester or other people branding them as a child molester? Maybe even if they're not...

The villain is a child molester. I see cases of wrongful paedo hunts listed as well which would be similar to the idea of a Witch Hunt. Because of the touchy topic and the edit block nobody cared to ever look into the consistency of it all.

The article started off as an attempt to distinguish between child molesters and non-offending pedophiles, but became a rant defending these pedophiles, and it was retooled as what it is. But because of the sordid history, it's been difficult to edit it.

I would rather define it as "Parents' fear of child abuse by rogue actor is part of the plot", whether that fear is justified or not.

^ I would have said Adult Fear covered that but since AF is gone, there may be room for such a trope if it's gathering enough examples.

So now we have at least three themes going:

1. Villain = pedophile (similar to any of the Depraved X tropes)
2. Parents fear for the safety of their children
3. A mob goes after a real (or alleged) child molester

Edited by eroock on Jan 16th 2023 at 1:56:03 PM

Wouldn't Mistaken for Pedophile and False Rape Accusation cover examples of people being falsely accused of pedophilia?

I would say so.

I do agree that Pædo Hunt description (and name tbh) are pretty vague, especially for such a subject. I feel the trope should be treated similarly to Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil.

Mistaken for Pedophile seems to be a comedy trope.

Doesn't necessarily have to be, does it?

Although I can't really imagine that trope being played for drama...

Edited by sohibil on Dec 27th 2022 at 8:02:04 PM

There are numerous examples in the list where it's Played for Drama. Also the whole real life section. I think the trope's definition should be cleared up so that this case is also mentioned. But that's probably a topic for another thread.

Sounds like something a wick check could clarify.

Original YKTTW describes it with "Usually, a form of Dead Baby Comedy, though I've seen a Narmy example..."

How I see it used is pedophilia being an especially evil crime and that being used to emphasize your villain as evil, as essentially a combination of the "this is an especially bad thing to do" associations of Would Hurt a Child and Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil

I see it used both for that and for "moral hysteria around pedophilia"

I think Pedophilia Is Depraved can be a new trope split off from Pædo Hunt, which can stay as pedophilia causing hysteria.

I don't think we need a split. If we keep a trope that's solely about pedophilia causing hysteria, it would have too much overlap with Mistaken for Pedophile.

Not a fan of that suggested rename because it feels a bit too similar to Pædo Hunt's old name, "All Pedophiles Are Child Molesters," which ended up attracting nattery edits from actual pedophiles trying to defend themselves.

I'm gonna be honest, I honestly don't know what a valid example of this trope is supposed to be. I think I've only ever actually seen this trope used as a sinkhole magnet for "any mention of or allusion to pedophilia, anywhere".

The only real tropable concepts I could see here (other than "pedophiles exist") seems to be the aforementioned moral hysteria around pedophilia and "pedophiles are evil." The first of these is already covered by Mistaken for Pedophile, and per , I have serious reservations about considering the latter concept to be a trope (as opposed to, y'know, a tautology). All things considered, I'm not seeing much here to salvage.

Edited by Mahoxy on Jan 20th 2023 at 5:59:56 AM

At this point I would just disambigutate and call it a day. I feel like the core points are covered by several tropes already. Would Hurt AC Hild, Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil, Serial Rapist, etc.

Edited by miraculous on Jan 20th 2023 at 3:02:39 AM

I think "villain is a pedophile" is a tropeworthy concept. It needs a better name though. For example, Pedophilia Is A Special Kind Of Evil.

^^ I wouldn't conflate molestation with rape. Hence a separate trope about pedophile tendencies/actions is still in the cards.

Edited by eroock on Jan 21st 2023 at 9:30:04 PM

Seconded.

Besides, isn't "paedophiles exist" and "paedophiles are evil" just People Sit on Chairs?

I would go for "Villain is a Child Molester" to remedy the "modest paedophiles defending themselves" issue. Still I'm surprised that so many of them have come out of their closet. You'd have to possess real guts to do such thing. It's basically like painting a target on yourself.

Edited by sohibil on Feb 17th 2023 at 11:09:02 AM

I think the "Pedophilia Is A Special Kind Of Evil" is distinguished from "pedophilia is evil", since the idea is that a character revealed to be a pedophile would be automatically branded into a Hate Sink, who would deserve any gruesome punishment the hero dealt on them, or even have other villains turn on them since Even Evil Has Standards.

There are tropeworthy concepts here, but I agree the trope is usually used to mean there's a paedophile somewhere in the story. Paedophilia Is A Special Kind Of Evil should be viable, for works using it to provoke disgust towards the villain.

I would define the current trope as adults getting into a collective panic over a "roving" child predator, whether or not their fear is justified in-story (so it could overlap with Mistaken for Pedophile, but only for the most extreme reactions). It could be noted on the page that the vast majority of child sexual abuse comes from people in the household or education, not from a stranger on the street. But it might have to be rebuilt from scratch.

If memory serves, a big part of the reason why the trope is used in this way is b/c we didn't want to have too many tropes on paedophilia. Especially as they tend to overlap a lot.

Part of me is thinking something along the lines of Child Predation Is A Special Kind Of Evil. It avoids demonizing people who don't want to diddle kids while still condemning those who do. Is making that distinction going to risk a repeat of what happened with the previous name?