History Main / BrokenPedestal

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': PlayedForHorror in Kuervo's backstory, as revealed in the finale, where he went from idolizing [[spoiler:the commanders of Naya]] and aspiring to become one of them, to learning that [[spoiler:the commanders had sent his older brother to a preventable death by UnfriendlyFire]] and did not care for [[spoiler:their soldiers]] at all. He then proceeded to, at age 16, [[spoiler:commit mass {{Tyrannicide}} and be [[EyeScream violently]] caught in the act]] -- complete with audio gore in the animatic, and [[spoiler:be sent on the run, going from an indoctrinated {{Child Soldier|s}} to an outlaw DefectorFromDecadence planning to avenge his brother by killing the two surviving commanders and freeing Naya from their tyranny.]]

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': PlayedForHorror in Kuervo's backstory, as revealed in the finale, where he went from idolizing [[spoiler:the commanders of Naya]] and aspiring to become one of them, to learning [[spoiler:BigBrotherIsEmployingYou and the current commanders had sent his older brother to a preventable death by UnfriendlyFire and did not care for their soldiers at all]]. He then proceeded to, at age 16, [[spoiler:commit mass {{Tyrannicide}} and be [[EyeScream violently]] caught in the act]] -- complete with audio gore in the animatic, and [[spoiler:be sent on the run to be a true DefectorFromDecadence planning to avenge his brother by killing the two surviving commanders and freeing Naya from their tyranny.]]

--> '''Schlatt:''' My childhood hero just called me bipolar.

* In ''VisualNovel/CodeRealize'', Arsene Lupin's mentor betrays the values and morals he'd taught him, instead turning to selfish crime.
** Another example is Jimmy Aleister, who personally mentored Van Helsing in the latter's entire career to the point where both lost their families for their service. In a very ugly turn of events, he is revealed to be an irredeemably twisted criminal mastermind who killed his own family and Van Helsing's all with his own hands, purely for the sake of trying to traumatize and [[TheCorrupter corrupt]] his student.

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'': [[spoiler:Mr. Waternoose becomes this to Sulley, when the latter finds out the former's involvement in Randall's plans of kidnapping children to solve the energy crisis. What makes it particularly hard is that Waternoose was like a father figure to Sulley]].

Related to BeleagueredChildhoodFriend, FakeUltimateHero, FalseFriend, BigBadFriend. Compare FallenHero, HistoricalHeroUpgrade, DefiledForever, MyGirlIsNotASlut, UnpleasantParentReveal, DisappointingHeritageReveal. Coincides with NiceCharacterMeanActor since an encounter with such a person can lead to this. See also ReplacementPedestal, for when a character who is disillusioned with a former role model finds a better one to look up to. Contrast EvilMentor (who was ObviouslyEvil from the beginning), RebuiltPedestal (when a formerly Broken Pedestal is forgiven or exonerated) and BlindObedience (when this usually isn't the case). Not to be confused with BrokenBase.

** In an [[PlayedForDrama utterly devastating example]], Miles finds out that his CoolUncle Aaron -- the one adult in his life who accepts him exactly as he is and encourages his interests, and the only relative he feels he can really talk to -- is actually the Prowler, a hitman working for Kingpin, who has been trying to ''kill him'' all movie. (It should be noted that Aaron had no idea the new Spider-Man was his beloved nephew, and is horrified when he finds out.) The look on Miles' face when he realizes is a mixture of heartbreak and pure terror.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'': PlayedForLaughs, when Miles is fighting the Spot, but the villain's portals, which he initially has trouble controlling, end up teleporting them through a bunch of random locations, including a car wash and a flock of swans. At one point, the two are slipping and sliding in a huge pile of soap foam while being attacked by an angry swan in the middle of a coffee shop. A little kid wearing a Miles' Spider-Man mask standing outside watching the event unfold decides he doesn't want it anymore.

** At the beginning, [[BigGood Ozpin]] is known and revered as the wise, benign and easy-going headmaster of Beacon Academy, who's willing to admit he's made a lot of mistakes in his life. As the series goes on, however, this image starts to crack as more of Ozpin's dubious decisions, his dark secrets, and the true nature of Remnant's threats come to light. By Volume 6, even Ruby Rose begins to suspect that Ozpin may not truly trust humanity to do the right thing, despite his constant appearance of optimism and faith in what humanity is capable of. It triggers them into asking the [[ArtifactOfPower Relic of Knowledge]] to reveal what Ozpin is hiding, which is that [[BigBad Salem]] is an InvincibleVillain with CompleteImmortality and, while he's [[SecretWar kept her at bay]] for thousands of years, he has no idea how to [[ForeverWar permanently defeat her]]. Upon realising this, his most [[UndyingLoyalty loyal supporter]], Qrow Branwen, punches him in the face and states that meeting Oz was the worst luck [[TheJinx he's ever had]]. This [[HeroicBSOD breaks Ozpin]] in turn, and he retreats to the [[SharingABody back of Oscar's mind]] where even [[LegacyOfTheChosen Oscar Pine]] cannot go. Oscar later tells Ironwood that the reason Ozpin kept this secret is because he was afraid it would [[DespairEventHorizon destroy people's hope]].
** Adam Taurus was once seen as an icon of the movement to the [[WesternTerrorists White Fang's]] membership. They had so much faith in him that he was confident they'd keep following him even after the loss of Faunus life during the breach of Vale at the end of Volume 2. In Volume 5, Sienna Khan's personal bodyguards are willing to turn on her in favor of Adam when he launches his coup against her. However, when he attacks Haven Academy, he destroys any support he once had when he tries to blow up himself and his followers just to spite Blake Belladonna for attempting to stop him from attacking Haven; upon failing that, he abandons his men to be captured by the Mistral authorities while he escapes. Ilia Amitola predicts that no-one in the White Fang will support him now; when Adam returns to the White Fang headquarters, the rank and file do indeed turn on him.

** For much of the series, General James Ironwood is a near-mythical figure for his military forces, with several soldiers speaking about him with near-reverence and his closest subordinates expressing their absolute faith in him. But as the invasion of Atlas in Volume 8 goes on, and Ironwood begins to come unhinged from the pressure, the faith of his subordinates begins to crumble. Rank-and-file soldiers are visibly frightened of him, and Winter Schnee and the Ace-Ops struggle to accept his actions. Marrow Amin finally breaks from the group, shouting that he believed in Ironwood, but no longer sees working for him as a honor. Ironwood's attempt to execute Marrow for insubordination further shakes the other Ace-Ops, with Elm Ederne barely remembering to get back into formation. By the end of the season, all of the Ace-Ops and even Winter have turned on him, with Winter even renouncing him and labelling him as an enemy of Atlas.

What makes a pedestal break varies, but it runs anywhere from a good person who abandoned their ideals or [[FaceHeelTurn switched sides]] to a monster who was EvilAllAlong. Most of the time, the idol kept his shining image by hiding or suppressing anything damning, [[LovingAShadow but sometimes the fault was in those who worshiped him and saw an overly idealized image instead of the real person]]. Or maybe others saw the signs of bad in them, but the one who supported the idol, a friend of theirs, insisted that the idol had a HiddenHeartOfGold that only they could see, [[PostSupportRegret only to realize everyone else was right about them all along]]. Expect them to ask, "WasItAllALie" Is also frequently a result of a DeceptiveLegacy or InsidiousRumorMill being revealed to the deceived parties.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', prior to the movie, Po had always looked up both the Furious Five and Shifu & always dreamed of learning Kung Fu to become a part of them. But then come the events of the movie. Oogway chooses him to be the Kung Fu master, but Po's initial excitement soon fades when they repeatedly demean and insult him and openly declare that he has no place in the Jade Palace, even declaring that he should leave the place. When he gets confronted by Shifu after chickening out, he not only calls him out on their behavior but also demands to know if he even can or wants to turn someone like him into a Dragon Warrior to confront Tai Lung. When Shifu has nothing to say about it, Po ultimately leaves the Palace, his dreams of being a Kung Fu master being utterly shattered by their cruel actions. Fortunately, after remembering his promise to Oogway to train Po before the former passed away, [[RebuiltPedestal Shifu decides to train him for real, and in a way that actually works.]]

Momma just hung her head and said, son…

* Arthur Miller's ''All My Sons'' revolves around this trope after TheReveal.

* In ''WebAnimation/SmashKing'', Samus becomes this towards Peach, who initially saw her as a role model before Samus and her team attempted to take Bowser to the Creator against his will. This trope also applies to Wario, as his one-sided crush on her completely vanishes once this is revealed.

* In ''WebAnimation/SMG4MovieWesternSpaghetti'' Meggy goes on a quest to find her idol One-Shot Wren, only to find out that he kidnapped her and her friends in a simulation. He then proceeds to repeatedly kill Meggy and reviving her, causing her to go insane.
he then proceed

* In ''Web Animation/SMG4''

** Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's step-mother, is portrayed as an almost semi-mythical symbol of purity and perfection, someone who inspired Ruby to become a Huntres by being a real-life version of the fairy tale heroes her mother would tell them about at bedtime. Summer's only flaw was that she left for a mission from which she never returned, leaving her family devastated. However, Volume 9 reveals new information about Summer that leaves Ruby feeling betrayed and devastated. [[spoiler:In the volume finale, she learns that Summer lied about what mission she was going on, believing it was acceptable because she'd be back home before anyone knew the truth. However, after the immediate shock wears off, Ruby is able to break out of the suicidal despair she's been struggling with because she finally understands that she's been holding herself and her mother to an impossible standard; instead of shattering herself trying to achieve it, she can now accept she and her mother are flawed human beings, just like everyone else, and that's okay.]]

'''Due to the nature of the trope, there will be unmarked spoilers abound. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned! Also, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''

'''Due to the nature of the trope, there will be unmarked spoilers abound. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''

** Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's step-mother, is portrayed as an almost semi-mythical symbol of purity and perfection, someone who inspired Ruby to become a Huntres by being a real-life version of the fairy tale heroes her mother would tell them about at bedtime. Summer's only flaw was that she left for a mission from which she never returned, leaving her family devastated. However, Volume 9 reveals new information about Summer that leaves Ruby feeling betrayed and devastated. [[spoiler:In the volume finale, she learns that Summer lied about what mission she was going on, believing it was acceptable because she'd be back home before anyone knew the truth. However, after the immediate shock wears off, Ruby is able to break out of the suicidal despair she's been struggling with because she finally understands that she's been holding herself and her mother to an impossible standard; instead of shattering herself trying to achieve it, she can now accept she's a flawed human being, just like everyone else, and that's okay.]]

** For the entire series, Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's step-mother, was seen as a mythical figure for the girls, especially the former: a do-no-wrong huntress who inspired Ruby to become a Huntress thanks to the various stories she read, whose only real sin was the fact that she left her for a mission and died, never coming back. Then, in the final episode of Volume 9, [[spoiler:Ruby learned that the day she left, she lied to her and Taiyang Xiao Long about the severity of the mission in an attempt to spare them, but believed that the mission she went on wasn't so bad that she could come back]]. Ruby is crushed to find this out, [[spoiler: but this is actually a rare ''positive'' example, as it also helps lift Ruby's mental baggage about not being good enough by showing her that even her mom wasn't perfect, and seeing that her mother's last words to her were telling her to BeYourself is what pulls her back from the DespairEventHorizon.]]

** At the beginning, [[BigGood Ozpin]] is known and revered as the wise, benign and easy-going headmaster of Beacon Academy, who's willing to admit he's made a lot of mistakes in his life. As the series goes on, however, this image starts to crack as more of Ozpin's dubious decisions, his dark secrets, and the true nature of Remnant's threats come to light. By Volume 6, even Ruby begins to suspect that Ozpin may not truly trust humanity to do the right thing, despite his constant appearance of optimism and faith in what humanity is capable of. It triggers them into asking the [[ArtifactOfPower Relic of Knowledge]] to reveal what Ozpin is hiding, which is that [[BigBad Salem]] is an InvincibleVillain with CompleteImmortality and, while he's [[SecretWar kept her at bay]] for thousands of years, he has no idea how to [[ForeverWar permanently defeat her]]. Upon realising this, his most [[UndyingLoyalty loyal supporter]], Qrow, punches him in the face and states that meeting Oz was the worst luck [[TheJinx he's ever had]]. This [[HeroicBSOD breaks Ozpin]] in turn, and he retreats to the [[SharingABody back of Oscar's mind]] where even [[LegacyOfTheChosen Oscar]] cannot go. Oscar later tells Ironwood that the reason Ozpin kept this secret is because he was afraid it would [[DespairEventHorizon destroy people's hope]].
** Adam Taurus was once seen as an icon of the movement to the [[WesternTerrorists White Fang's]] membership. They had so much faith in him that he was confident they'd keep following him even after the loss of Faunus life during the breach of Vale at the end of Volume 2. In Volume 5, Sienna's personal bodyguards are willing to turn on her in favor of Adam when he launches his coup against her. However, when he attacks Haven Academy, he destroys any support he once had when he tries to blow up himself and his followers just to spite Blake for attempting to stop him from attacking Haven; upon failing that, he abandons his men to be captured by the Mistral authorities while he escapes. Ilia predicts that no-one in the White Fang will support him now; when Adam returns to the White Fang headquarters, the rank and file do indeed turn on him.

** For much of the series, General Ironwood is a near-mythical figure for his military forces, with several soldiers speaking about him with near-reverence and his closest subordinates expressing their absolute faith in him. But as the invasion of Atlas in Volume 8 goes on, and Ironwood begins to come unhinged from the pressure, the faith of his subordinates begins to crumble. Rank-and-file soldiers are visibly frightened of him, and Winter Schnee and the Ace-Ops struggle to accept his actions. Marrow finally breaks from the group, shouting that he believed in Ironwood, but no longer sees working for him as a honor. Ironwood's attempt to execute Marrow for insubordination further shakes the other Ace-Ops, with Elm barely remembering to get back into formation. By the end of the season, all of the Ace-Ops and even Winter have turned on him, with Winter even renouncing him and labelling him as an enemy of Atlas.
** For the entire series, Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's step-mother, was seen as a mythical figure for the girls, especially the former: a do-no-wrong huntress who inspired Ruby to become a Huntress thanks to the various stories she read, whose only real sin was the fact that she left her for a mission and died, never coming back. Then, in the final episode of Volume 9, [[spoiler:Ruby learned that the day she left, she lied to her and Taiyang about the severity of the mission in an attempt to spare them, but believed that the mission she went on wasn't so bad that she could come back]]. Ruby is crushed to find this out, [[spoiler: but this is actually a rare ''positive'' example, as it also helps lift Ruby's mental baggage about not being good enough by showing her that even her mom wasn't perfect, and seeing that her mother's last words to her were telling her to BeYourself is what pulls her back from the DespairEventHorizon.]]

* ''WebAnimation/ManiManiPeople'': Kazuya had a PrecociousCrush on Yuri, the lady from the flower shop. However, while she did turn him down gently, it wasn't until he overhead her mocking him in a Tuna Shop when he saw "Big Sis Yuri's" [[BitchInSheepsClothing true colors]]. As soon as she finds out that Kazuya belonged to the Tennouji group, she tries to make amends, but the damage has already been done.

** For the entire series, Summer Rose, Ruby's mother and Yang's step-mother, was seen as a mythical figure for the girls, especially the former: a do-no-wrong huntress who inspired Ruby to become a Huntress thanks to the various stories she read, whose only real sin was the fact that she left her for a mission and died, never coming back. Then, in the final episode of Volume 9, [[spoiler:Ruby learned that the day she left, she lied to her and Taiyang about the severity of the mission in an attempt to spare them, but believed that the mission she went on wasn't so bad that she could come back]]. Ruby is crushed to find this out, [[spoiler: but this is actually a rare ''positive'' example, as it also helps lift Ruby's mental baggage about not being good enough by showing her that even her mom wasn't perfect, and seeing that her mothers last words to her were telling her to BeYourself is what pulls her back from the DespairEventHorizon.]]