Not sociopathic enough - : Heroic Sociopath

BTW, would the current picture be better for Atop a Mountain of Corpses than that trope's current picture?

I'm on the internet. My arguments are invalid.

Well, relying on text isn't an automatic disqualification, but it is a dire criticism.

I actually don't think that's true, either as a positive or normative statement. Plenty of images we use would be meaningless without the text... and that's perfectly OK.

The real thing to avoid is a bit subtler - text where the image adds nothing, or images where the text adds nothing.

Seeing the context of the quote is not nothing.

Jet-a-Reeno!

<3 Belkar, but <3 Rorschach more. And I think Rorschach is more Heroic than Belkar.

Sure, Belkar has his heroic moments, but Rorschach is a real, honest hero. Who is also completely sociopathic.

Whereas Belkar is a sociopath who sometimes accidentally does heroic things, usually for his own self-interested reasons.

YMMV. Good point.

edited 18th Nov '10 2:52:30 PM by mmysqueeant

I agree that the real thing to avoid is where the image doesn't add much to the text  ^*

, but disagree that that's different than what I said. Yes, context adds something. The context added to that picture is people (?) sitting, standing, and talking. The fact that city guards (or something) are talking to a mercenary (or something) does add a bit, but not as much as, say, a well-drawn comic book panel.

edited 17th Nov '10 8:41:33 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

Rorshcach is great but I don't think there are any panels from the Watchmen book that illustrate Heroic Sociopath behavior, he would be Just A Face And A Caption. Whereas what Belkar is saying ("rewards instead of prison?") is exactly Heroic Sociopath. It's text-heavy, and that's too bad, but it's pretty strong.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

I think simply seeing the characters who are talking, the style of the work, the context (like how Belkar's receiving an actual wrapped present with a little bow and everything) all add significant value.

I can't see any good reason to exclude the Belkar image.

Jet-a-Reeno!

I again prefer one of the "Belkar eating out of a Kobold's head" pictures.

I'm convinced that our modern day analogues to ancient scholars are comedians. -0dd1

Too early for a crowner?

How many images were suggested?

Fight smart, not fair.

Yes, I agree, that is a great image. It is just text-heavy, which I think is a pretty serious criticism. Does the image-provided context (wrapped present, see who's talking, etc) and the awesomeness/approproateness of the text counterbalance and maybe even trump that criticism? Perhaps. (I think so, if we are voting, I vote for it.)

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

Text-heaviness becomes a problem when the trope can be illustrated without text. How do you show sociopathy without text?

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Hm, I remember a scene from Lucky Dawg where a guy says something along the lines of "I'm the best kind of hero, the kind who gets paid" after killing a little girl  ^*

who was being held hostage.

Here it is but it's not that great.

edited 18th Nov '10 3:49:21 PM by Deboss

Fight smart, not fair.

Rodney, Yes, I personally think all the other factors trump "text-heavy." IMO, "text-heavy" is way down on the list in importance. Needs to be a serious Wall of Text to be a big problem.

(Incidentally, didn't Wall of Text itself once have a great "Here's what we don't want" style trope image? It's imageless now.)

Jet-a-Reeno!

If it did, it's gone now. I'll make the image pickin' if you don't want to.

Fight smart, not fair.

Sure, go ahead.

Jet-a-Reeno!

Bump.

Seems like Richard would work well for this.

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/32 Last panel, perhaps?

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/17 "It's hard to kill just one."

http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/261 "What did you wish for?"

There's probably other good ones, but it's rather hard to fit heroic and sociopathic into a single picture.

edited 22nd Nov '10 12:34:19 AM by petrie911

Belief or disbelief rests with you.

Richard is a great example, at least on par with Belkar. My problem with him is that he looks is too villainous, and hardly ever fights people who look more villainous than him.

Try the last panel.

Fight smart, not fair.

Oh, that is good. Better than the Belkar pic, IMO.

Doesn't show the hero part. The Belkar pic relies on text, but it is the trope in every sense possible. Just showing people being violent or aggressive is meaningless.

The last panel of the first one is good, the rest not so much. It relies less on text, if anything.

Cropped version of the first one

The nice thing is that it definitely shows heroic. It does rely on the dialog for the sociopathic part, though. I don't think it really needs a caption.

Belief or disbelief rests with you.

Heh. I think that one sums it up nicely. :)

"And for the first time in weeks, I felt the boredom go away!"

Yeah, I think that one works. "Heroic" might not be completely explicit, but going on about "long roads ahead of us" is the sort of dialogue you're more likely to get from heroes than villains.

Jet-a-Reeno!