History DeconstructedTrope / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/FarCry 2'' deconstructs badass with the player character. The enemies attack you on sight, no one bothers to check if you're enemy or not...solution? You kill everything on sight, becoming just like them and racking up hundreds of kills, and by doing that, become the epitome of badassitude with enemies running from you in fear if your reputation is high enough. Of course, this reputation doesn't just affect enemies, it affects friendly people as well, which you need for malaria medicine...

** Batman ardently sticks to not killing, aware that if he does so in the name of justice, he's NotSoDifferent from the criminals he just killed, but couldn't fix the Joker's KarmaHoudini problem, which backfired horribly when the MonsterClown caused Superman's StartOfDarkness in the first game by tricking him into killing his own wife and nuking Metropolis. Superman frequently chides him for not having the spine to kill those who deserve to die for the greater good, even when he has desires to do so.
** Likewise, Superman no longer believes in the no-kill rule and thinks only PayEvilUntoEvil matters post-Metropolis, especially in regards to villains like the Joker or Brainiac, but Batman still believes that it's an easy path to JumpOffTheSlipperySlope, [[BewareTheSuperman which brought out the worst]] in Superman. In Brainiac's case, while Superman wants to kill the Coluan in revenge for blowing up Krypton, Batman warns they need to keep Brainiac alive if they hope to restore all of the cities.

** At a more meta level, VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2 deconstructs a lot of the tropes of video gaming itself.

** The issues of the QuirkyMinibossSquad is further deconstructed in a {{Webcomic}} based on the first ''Metal Gear Solid'': ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound''. As are some of the cloning woes and the other issues the game explores, though usually to humorous effect because when it comes to genetics, the author gleefully exploits Hideo Kojima's research mistakes.

* ''VideoGame/WintermoorTacticsClub'' gently but ''very'' pointedly deconstructs several ideas with a single plot element, with the most focus on the idea of the BarrierMaiden, but also taking potshots at SadisticChoice, HeroicLegacy, and HeroicSacrifice;

* The ''VideoGame/KisekiSeries'' deconstructs the KidHero archetype that most JRPG games play straight. Most playable characters tend to skew as teenagers, most of the adults are very competent at their jobs in comparison. Thanks to their inexperience and lack of authority, the kids lose far more than they win and need to be frequently bailed out by their adult counterparts. Unless the younger characters have received specialized combat training which frequently is depicted as traumatizing or are flat out used to harsher living conditions, (just ask [[ChildSoldier Renne]], [[EmptyShell Joshua]], or [[DeathSeeker Kevin]]), they won't be able to catch up with the adults, no matter how many special powers and abilities they may have compared to years of experience. Ultimately this results in a case of TheBadGuyWins more often than not, leaving the protagonists to scrape by with personal victories at best while only making a dent in the villains' plans.

* While ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' was always a darker version of {{Mons}} (despite [[OlderThanTheyThink preceding]] Franchise/{{Pokemon}} by several years), ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' took it to ''{{Manga/Narutaru}}'' levels of brutality by showing exactly what kind of world would result in people gaining control of extremely powerful creatures that would follow any order.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has ''many'' deconstructions:
** Yosuke deconstructs the StepfordSmiler and/or SadClown tropes, as his Shadow calls him on the fact he's basically just bored and aimless and so he's throwing himself into anything that seems interesting for the hell of having something to do.
** Chie deconstructs the {{tomboy}} trope, as it's made clear from encountering her Shadow that she is quite uncomfortable with her lack of femininity. She also mildly deconstructs the BigEater trope, as she mentions that her ravenous appetite is one of the things she finds unfeminine about herself and is thusly ashamed of.
** Yukiko deconstructs the YamatoNadeshiko trope, as it's noted she feels powerless and weak, as well as not truly wanting to accept her expected inheritance.
** Kanji deconstructs the RealMenWearPink trope, as his personal storyline is all about how his "un-macho" interests have led to ridicule and rejection from others, especially women, and how he doubts himself as a result of that.
** Rise deconstructs the IdolSinger and {{Kawaiiko}} tropes, having originally gone into the music business because of a love of singing and a desire to make friends, only to grow fearful of the idea that people only see her for her idol persona.
** Naoto deconstructs the KidDetective (nobody takes her seriously due to her age, so she has to fight to be recognized) and {{Bifauxnen}} (she only dresses like and pretends to be a guy because it's the only way she can get around the chauvinism of the Japanese police system) tropes.

** HappinessInSlavery is deconstructed through Yusuke. Like many abuse victims, he is aware that Madarame is mistreating him and that he is plagiarizing Yusuke's work but feels that he can neither leave nor confront Madarame about this out of a sense of obligation towards the man who raised him after his mother's death. To cope with this, Yusuke continually rationalizes Madarame's behavior, hindering the Phantom Thieves' attempts to change Madarame's heart. Even after [[spoiler: Madarame's Shadow reveals he indirectly killed Yusuke's mother]], Yusuke continues to have conflicted feelings of love and hate towards his adopted father.

** Sumia's archetypically {{moe}} traits include her [[CuteClumsyGirl tripping around]], plucking flower petals for fortune telling, reading novels, and being super {{adorkable}}. If one looks at them closely, they're proof of '''severe''' [[HeroicSelfDeprecation self-esteem problems.]] A good part of Sumia's supports have her acting ''extremely'' awkward towards her friends and potential love interests (like the infamous [[NeverLiveItDown "pie baking" support with Chrom]], or her causing trouble to Gaius and Frederick [[UnwantedAssistance while trying to help them]]), and not to mention it's believed that her very low pools of potential boyfriends and female friends come from Sumia believing herself to be TheLoad and thus not approaching more people (and especially men) since she feels she's undeserving of either friendship or romantic love.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' may as well be renamed "Deconstructing Tropes: The Video Game"
** Ragna the Bloodedge deconstructs badass. He possesses tremendous power capable of being a OneManArmy, but he himself [[IdiotHero isn't very bright and prefers to just charge ahead to any of his problems instead of thinking a lot]]. Unfortunately for him, that power is extremely demonic and is eating him from the inside the more he uses it because it does not belong to him (it belonged to the Black Beast), and the world surrounding him is a lot more savvy than he thinks he is. And thus, he mostly ends up as a ButtMonkey in gag scenarios, gets snarked by his allies, is unable to reach his one goal of saving his sister, [[spoiler:continuously eats lots of sword stabs courtesy of Nu]], is unable to trounce the one he hates the most (Terumi) and [[spoiler:ends up mutated into a monstrosity by his sister-possessed-by-Goddess-Of-The-Underworld because of said power.]] Had this been something like ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', he would've probably succeeded in becoming an invincible badass like his predecessor (Sol Badguy), but alas.
** Jin Kisaragi can count in terms of deconstructing AnnoyingYoungerSibling and IJustWantToBeSpecial. The lad always wanted to become someone special for his brother, Ragna, a 'hero' or something. Signs of this are already shown in the past that when his normally beloved (but occasionally bullied) sister Saya got sick and Ragna had to give extra attention to her, Jin started getting jealous and began intensifying his bullying, and when there's this weird green stranger who offers to make him a 'hero' to save his brother, Jin jumps in without question. Said 'weird green stranger' turns out to be an utterly malicious {{troll}} who possesses him, cuts off his brother's arm and burns the orphanage, then erases his memory and leaves for the Kisaragi household. While he became a hard-working son, the family never trusted him because of his adoption and when he's sent to the fields of war, he couldn't remember a thing and all of the sudden, he's given a shitload of hero's honors, not realizing that it was also the malicious Troll's plan to more easily use him and it results in Jin himself becoming something of a mentally dead person walking, with people referring him as 'false hero'. And, when his brother comes back, all he gets to hear is "You killed our sister, bastard!". So much for 'special'... [[spoiler:Thankfully, he is taking steps to gather the deconstructed pieces and try to reconstruct them anew as of late.]]
** Noel Vermillion deconstructs MarySue. She has been accused of being a CreatorsPet due to all her powers and the fetishes involved in her design... but actually, all of her "Sue qualities" put her in positions that the poor girl is ''very'' clearly unfit to handle, her social interactions have suffered quite a bit (ie., [[spoiler:being Jin's sort-of sister was something that Hazama used to manipulate her close friend Tsubaki Yayoi, [[ClingyJealousGirl who's obsessively in love with Jin]], into a FaceHeelTurn]]) while her powers remain unknown to her and get exploited by others for their own gain. (Not to mention how despite being very pretty, she still has low self-esteem [[ACupAngst and a fixation on what she lacks]] rather than [[MoeMoe what she]] [[ShesGotLegs already possesses]]). Noel's character has also had little chance to develop [[UnwittingPawn due to constant manipulation]], resulting in her being a super shy ShrinkingViolet with no small amount of emotional baggage [[BreakTheCutie and no small amount of traumatic things experienced]]. [[spoiler:However, closing her "Eye of the Azure" might have lead to the possibility of [[CharacterDevelopment her becoming mentally/emotionally stronger]] - and if a month with her other best bud [[PluckyGirl Makoto]] is any indication, [[EarnYourHappyEnding things are looking up for her]].]]
** [[spoiler:The aforementioned]] Tsubaki Yayoi deconstucts TheOjou and ''especially'' YamatoNadeshiko. She's very beautiful, polite, mature and intelligent, from an extremely traditionalist family, and not to mention extremely loyal to them and the Librarium. She only has eyes for one man, Jin Kisaragi, and is very enamoured with the idea of assisting him in his duties as his secretary. She's also shown [[BewareTheniceOnes to be very intimidating when annoyed or angered]], as shown in Remix Heart. ''And'' she's a LadyOfWar, too. The problem is that underneath this 'perfect girl' facade there's a deeply insecure and troubled young woman whose [[{{yandere}} sincere but obsessive love for Jin]] and [[IncestIsRelative extemely muddled origins]] bring out the absolute worst in her, and her ivory-tower upbringing leave her [[UnwittingPawn woefully susceptible to manipulation]], [[spoiler:which Hazama exploits like it's going out of style, completely screwing her ''and'' others over.]]
** Makoto Nanaya qualifies as well, though not to the extent that her two best friends above do. She's rarely ever upset and normally has a smile on and cracks jokes. She also has some very good friends that she cares about more than anything else. She's also both physically strong and strong-willed, plus she managed to get into the high-class academy that only the best can enter. Except what family you're from matters ''greatly'' to a lot of students there, where you're a target for bullying if you aren't from a high-class family. Makoto has had it even worse due to being a beastkin [[FantasticRacism which are very looked down upon]] by the students, leading to her not trusting humans for a long time. [[spoiler:She also doesn't completely trust her best friends if her ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'' alternate ending is accurate, and believes that they talk negatively about her when she's not around. She's also never completely gotten over her hatred of humans either. Oh, and her caring about her best friends more than anything in the world? That means she's willing to choose them ''over'' the world if she has to.]] ...Oh, right, the trope she's deconstructing? ThePowerOfFriendship... it seems.
** Yuuki Terumi himself deconstructs [[GambitIndex gambiteers]]. At first, he was played as an unerring {{chessmaster}} slash ClockKing who played the cast like a deck of cards, and came out on top no matter the outcome. He was overly powerful, knew just about everything about everyone, and [[CrazyPrepared had backup plans for every contingency]]. [[spoiler:However, the ease with which he gets irritated when his ego or plans are damaged (for the latter, add the aforementioned Makoto [[BerserkButton for good times]]) was a hint that his omnipresent control over affairs was a mere illusion; ''Slight Hope'' demonstrated that he was not as in control as he thought he was, and ''Chronophantasma'' broke the illusion outright thanks to multiple plays by Kokonoe, Rachel, and Kagura.]] He also actually cheats to be such an all-knowing mastermind in the first place, courtesy of playing with [[DeusEstMachina Takamagahara]] and having RippleEffectProofMemory, meaning that he gets to know everything by way akin to SaveScumming. [[spoiler:Suddenly, his goal of disabling Takamagahara sounds more like a detriment for him in the long run as his planning capabilities are greatly reduced without it.]] As it turns out, the vile, scheming {{troll}} was [[spoiler:naught more than a ClockKing suffering from CripplingOverspecialization and outright [[{{Pride}} ego-induced nearsightedness]], all of which haunted him [[KilledOffForReal until the day he died]]. Even Izanami - who he [[PuppetKing thought he was controlling]] - was pulling his strings all along, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she left him to his fate by the end of it]]...though he later {{reconstructed}} his gambitting abilities when he outplayed Izanami by literally doing nothing but letting the good guys do the job for him and then killing Hakumen, resulting in a NearVillainVictory.]] Another trope that Yuuki Terumi soundly deconstructs is the CardCarryingVillain. If Terumi had a moustache, he would be twirling it, that's how much he revels in being a villain, and him doing so would be hilarious... Then you'd choke on your laugh as he [[spoiler:burned down the orphanage that Ragna lived in during his childhood, killed the nun taking care of him and his siblings, chopped off Ragna's right arm and spent the following minutes verbally abusing the poor kid until he passed out from blood loss]]. And that's just one of the ''many'' instances throughout the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' series that Terumi dedicates to demonstrating just how absolutely fucked up a person who describes himself as "Evil" with a straight face would be.
** Relius Clover deconstructs ThePerfectionist archetype. At first, he's presented as a MadScientist with absolute LackOfEmpathy that sees people as nothing but experimental subjects. Over all his time, thanks to his cooperation with Terumi and the Imperator, he has never tasted defeat, thus convincing himself that he's perfect, [[spoiler:including his personal plan to design the world by himself just so there can be progress, which goes against the aforementioned two's plans]]. So... what happens [[spoiler:if he actually TASTED defeat and had his long-built plan crumbling utterly, especially by someone treated as an utter joke? The result is that Relius is completely broken down, unable to comprehend defeat and is left with ''nothing'' else after years of the pursuit of perfection alone. (and like Terumi, Izanami [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness also ditched him]]) He goes from one of the most feared men in the verse into a man willingly putting himself on the leash of the son he traumatized casually (after his attempt to get himself killed by being beaten to pulp by his old rival failed due to being interrupted by a collapsing building) and the only thing he can look forward to is about how said son is going to deliver his well-deserved punishment once he's done with his brain...and then, much like Terumi, he {{reconstructed}} himself by pulling himself back together, pulling a fast one on his son [[TheCorrupter that pushed him down a darker path]], and unlike Terumi, [[TheBadGuyWins he got away with his life, if not necessarily his goals]].]]
** A part of YamatoNadeshiko is also deconstructed by Litchi Faye-Ling, along with the trope GoodIsNotSoft and ''especially'' ThePowerOfLove. When first seen, she's this perfectly maternal woman and CoolBigSis who gets along with and is beloved by everyone, and who protects the helpless. Even her dark side which got shown primarily through trying to save her friend Lotte Carmine from his fate of becoming the BlobMonster Arakune seemed tame enough, seeing as how with enough [[{{Determinator}} determination]] powered by love, all may be fine. However, a combination of [[spoiler:her deteriorating condition due to contracting the same corruption as Arakune just to save him, the people she trusted (Kokonoe) refusing to help her because it can't be done, and her own flaw of [[TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason not wanting to burden people with her personal problems]], she kept believing that it was her fault that Lotte became Arakune and thus was her responsibility. (born out of the grief of losing Lotte in the first place) She felt duty-bound to get it done at all costs, even if she had to join the aforementioned Terumi and Relius that she personally disliked on sight and fight against those that loved her, and [[SmallStepsHero not notice the bigger conflict outside of "How I can save him?"]]. And when it turned out trying to go back would not yield results, she had no other choice but to go along with a plan to reset the world just so Lotte did not commit the mistake, at cost of the old world being subjected to genocide. The duty of an Oriental YamatoNadeshiko to save their beloved pushes her to go beyond the horizon of 'Not Soft' to the point of some no longer considering her good or even [[MoralEventHorizon crossing the line]].]] In the end, TragicHero doesn't even begin to describe her.
** Bang Shishigami, for as much as he is a MemeticBadass, deconstructs KnightInShiningArmor or 'hero of justice'. Even though he was treated like a joke at first and slowly took levels in Badass and dropped his JokeCharacter status, he hasalways been a man who had his fantasies intertwined with his own daily life (and shows these fantasies in a [[LargeHam bombastic way]], endearing him to the fans) and it shows: He treats Litchi as a perfect MarySue that can do no wrong, therefore a perfect bride that will fall for him and her life is always perfect. And every kid he meets is always going to be his 'Apprentice' and will always be good, mannerly kids just from meeting him, like Carl Clover. He's very protective of both Litchi and any kids he meets, and his mind runs on a BlackAndWhiteMorality mentality. Unfortunately, it is that mindsets that makes Bang unable to help them, as both Litchi and Carl have never told him about their true personal problems [[spoiler:of trying to save Lotte and restore Ada, respectively]], and as Bang travels to Ikaruga, he was so sure that they'd be fine... [[spoiler:until he saw Litchi siding with Relius to seize his Rettenjou, which was followed by Carl taking his side as well, both of them for their own personal reasons, shattering all the fantasies that they were purely good people. In truth they're flawed and for as much as he claims that he's the protector of everyone, he didn't protect them from their worst problems.]] While [[spoiler:he managed to gather enough [[{{Determinator}} fortitude]] to fulfill his duty and screw Relius over (see above)]], Bang will needs to do some self-introspection about his old fantasies and think of how to '''truly'' [[AFriendInNeed help those he cares for from their problems]], now that he's seen their flaws and how deeply wounded they are. Whether he will succeed in a {{Reconstruction}} or not remains to be seen.

** HappinessInSlavery is deconstructed through Yusuke. Like many abuse victims, he is aware that Madarame is mistreating him and that he is plagiarizing Yusuke's work but feels that he can neither leave nor confront Madarame about this out of a sense of obligation towards the man who raised him after his mother's death. To cope with this, Yusuke continually rationalizes Madarame's behavior, hindering the Phantom Thieves's attempts to change Madarame's heart. Even after [[spoiler: Madarame's Shadow reveals he indirectly killed Yusuke's mother]], Yusuke continues to have conflicted feelings of love and hate towards his adopted father.

* While the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series as a whole has largely played ThePowerOfFriendship straight, ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has a rather brutal deconstruction near the end of the game. Sora is a firm believer in the trope, as he always believes that together people can do anything, and regularly attributes his power to his friends and connections with them, but Xigbar points out that he attributes ''too'' much of his strength to his friends, and during the climax, he's [[VillainHasAPoint proven right]]; when [[spoiler:the other Guardians of Light are ensnared by a Heartless swarm and apparently killed]], Sora [[HeroicBSOD breaks down]] ''[[HeroicBSOD hard]]'', declaring that since all his strength came from his friends, he's worthless on his own

** Yuuki Terumi himself deconstructs [[GambitIndex gambiteers]]. At first, he was played as an unerring {{chessmaster}} slash ClockKing who played the cast like a deck of cards, and came out on top no matter the outcome. He was overly powerful, knew just about everything about everyone, and [[CrazyPrepared had backup plans for every contingency]]. [[spoiler:However, the ease with which he gets irritated when his ego or plans are damaged (for the latter, add the aforementioned Makoto [[BerserkButton for good times]]) was a hint that his omnipresent control over affairs was a mere illusion; ''Slight Hope'' demonstrated that he was not as in control as he thought he was, and ''Chronophantasma'' broke the illusion outright thanks to multiple plays by Kokonoe, Rachel, and Kagura.]] He also actually cheats to be such an all-knowing mastermind in the first place, courtesy of playing with [[DeusEstMachina Takamagahara]] and having RippleEffectProofMemory, meaning that he gets to know everything by way akin to SaveScumming. [[spoiler:Suddenly, his goal of disabling Takamagahara sounds more like a detriment for him in the long run as his planning capabilities are greatly reduced without it.]] As it turns out, the vile, scheming {{troll}} was [[spoiler:naught more than a ClockKing suffering from CripplingOverspecialization and outright [[{{Pride}} ego-induced nearsightedness]], all of which haunted him [[KilledOffForReal until the day he died]]. Even Izanami - who he [[PuppetKing thought he was controlling]] - was pulling his strings all along, and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness she left him to his fate by the end of it]]...though he later {{reconstructed}} his gambitting abilities when he outplayed Izanami by literally doing nothing but letting the good guys do the job for him and then killing Hakumen, resulting in a NearVillainVictory.]] Another trope Yuuki Terumi soundly deconstructs is the CardCarryingVillain. If Terumi had a moustache, he would be twirling it, that's how much he revels in being a villain, and him doing that would be hilarious... Then you'd choke on your laugh as he [[spoiler:burned down the orphanage that Ragna lived in during his childhood, killed all the nuns working there, chopped off Ragna's right arm and spent the following minutes verbally abusing the poor kid until he passed out from blood loss]]. And that's just one of the ''many'' instances throughout the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' series when Terumi demonstrates just how absolutely fucked up a person who describes himself as "evil" with a straight face would be.

* The ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series deconstructs IncompetenceInc in the most horrific ways possible. The generally incompetent (and possibly morally bankrupt) owners of the in-universe [[SuckECheeses pizza franchise]] are not only willing to cut corners on costs whenever possible (Meaning equipment tends to malfunction or not work at all), but don't even bother doing background checks on their employees (Which results in a {{serial killer}} murdering ''several'' children) and have a general negligence of safety for their employees and customers (A child is horribly maimed in a DeadlyPrank due in part to no one even bothering to stop it). Not surprisingly, the restaurant is closed down after the events of the first game due to just how poorly run it is.

* The ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series deconstructs SuckECheeses in the most horrific ways possible. The generally incompetent (and possibly morally bankrupt) owners of the in-universe pizza franchise are not only willing to cut corners on costs whenever possible (Meaning equipment tends to malfunction or not work at all), but don't even bother doing background checks on their employees (Which results in a serial killer murdering ''several'' children) and have a general negligence of safety for their employees and customers (A child is horribly maimed in a DeadlyPrank due in part to no one even bothering to stop it). Not surprisingly, the restaurant is closed down after the events of the first game due to just how poorly run it is.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' deconstructs TheChosenOne harshly. The legend of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime the Hero of Time]] results in the people of Hyrule believing that he will return should the time come that Hyrule is in danger again. When Ganondorf returns they continue to believe this and Ganondorf remains unopposed [[spoiler:until the Gods take matters into their own hands leaving Hyrule in ruins.]] The incarnation of Link that is the protagonist of this game also has to '''earn''' his title as the successor of the legendary hero rather that just getting it.

* E-102 Gamma's storyline in ''[[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Adventure]]'' was an unexpected deconstruction of Eggman's robotic {{mook}}s...or more specifically, the fact that Eggman's robots are powered by animals. (Well, technically, Gamma was an EliteMook, but whatever.) After seeing Amy's flicky in the Egg Carrier's prison chamber, his power source's memories and emotions began to conflict with his programming, eventually leading to his seeking out and destroying the other E-100 models (and himself) to free the animals inside.

** In an interesting subversion, Urdnot Wrex (one of the first named Krogan we meet) not only starts out as [[GeniusBruiser much more mellow]] than his brethren but goes on to [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstruct]] the ProudWarriorRaceGuys culture of his kind almost singlehandedly, much to the annoyance of more two-dimensional Krogan.

** The Geth came off as the typical evil robot mooks in the first game (along with the setting assuming any true AI is gonna turn on their creators by default), but the second and third games deconstruct the idea entirely.

** In a similar fashion, the Batarians get their comeuppance in the third game, with the survivors becoming much more sympathetic and a possible War Asset against the Reapers.

** The Crest system is a brutal deconstruction of the BirthmarkOfDestiny and the social dysfunction that would entail if they were more mainstream than expected from a fictional setting, the people with them have a lot responsibility placed on them, and an entire nobility culture was built around them. Crests are usually taken as a sign of [[HeroicLineage being a descendant of one of the Four Saints or Ten Elites]] (who were said to have been gifted Crests by the continent's patron Goddess) and most of those descendants are nobles, but not only is lineage not a guarantee for inheritance, commoners have just as much of a chance of getting them too. This leads to situations such as commoners trying to marry Crest-bearing nobles in the hopes of increasing their own social status, non-Crest-bearing nobles marrying into families with Crests, and nobles adopting Crest-bearing commoners. Children of noble lineage born without Crests can [[ParentalFavoritism lose their inheritance to a younger sibling with a Crest]], leading to [[CainAndAbel violent internal power struggles]]. Noble children born with Crests also have high expectations placed on them and are frequently subject to loveless arranged marriages for producing more Crests or political advantages for their House. There is also at least one Crest (the Crest of the Beast) that ''nobody'' wants due to the storied past of its first human bearer, and so their descendants have experienced persecution and self-loathing in one known case. [[spoiler:In two known cases in recent times, the desire of a certain cult to get more power out of Crests led them to perform lethal experiments on children to give them two Crests (something conventionally considered impossible), and those who survived the experiments without being crippled or driven insane have a varyingly shortened lifespan. Also, the part about Crests originally being gifted by the Goddess is a historical revision made by Seiros to cover up the fact that they were stolen by humans, ingesting the blood of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Nabateans]] like her family. Only the Crests of Seiros and the Saints were actually gifts made to combat Nemesis; the rest were obtained by Nemesis and the Ten Elites (the latter getting a HistoricalHeroUpgrade) after killing Sothis and the other Nabateans in a massacre.]]