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I guess so. If you want to know the exact example I was thinking of: in Quake II you find out the Strogg like to torture prisoners in Hellhole Prison and do horrible experiments on them. Said prisoners are driven in sane and can only be given a Mercy Kill, but the whole thing makes you really hate the Strogg and want to kill them more.
^ Can that apply to a whole race as opposed to an individual?
I *think* a Hate Sink has to be a single character, or at least if there are multiple Hate Sinks in a work they all need to be able to stand on their own. Seconding Kick the Dog for the actions themselves.
Something like Always Chaotic Evil is probably a better fit for the story justifying the treatment of an entire race as bad guys, though in the Strogg's case, the Characters page for them says they're The Assimilator and employ Unwilling Roboticization, so without having played the game I'm not sure how much individuality they still have left.
Edited by Unsung
Kick the Dog is for painting a character evil. I thought Asshole Victim was for the concept of ensuring that the audience feels the right way about an evil character's death.
Kick the Dog is for evil acts that serve no other purpose other than to assure the audience a character is evil. Asshole Victim doesn't really apply here, since the Strogg aren't victims as such — they're the ones attacking, torturing, and assimilating others, which makes it more of a Pay Evil unto Evil situation at most.
Edited by Unsung
Asshole Victim would apply (they're the victims of the player's Mook Horror Show), but Pay Evil unto Evil is also applicable.
Guilt-Free Extermination War is the largest scale of this, for situations like the strogg where nobody but the most misguided Zombie Advocate has any objections to wiping them out.
Asshole Victim is if the asshole is the victim of something unrelated to their assholery.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
What trope best applies to this?