History Main / JadeColoredGlasses

* Jyu Viole Grace, aka 25th Baam, from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''. Formerly a WideEyedIdealist, a NaiveNewcomer who couldn't even grasp why people would fight each other when they didn't do anything bad to each other before turned cynical survivalist that is content with making everybody drop-out of the test he participates in since it's fairer that way. He doesn't believe that there is a way for everybody to be happy and tries to create a certain kind of equality this way, all while trying to find the person who betrayed him.

* Yeonho of ''VisualNovel/{{Nameless}}'' is TheCutie, so [[TheProtagonist Eri]] initially pegs him as ThePollyanna. As you'll learn throughout his route, he's really not.

Supertrope of GrumpyBear, SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids, SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids, and TookALevelInCynic.

* [[CrazySurvivalist Czeslaw]] [[CreepyChild Meyer]] from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' wasn't given a pair of jade colored glasses so much as someone [[ColdBloodedTorture nailed them onto his face]].
* Judai ([[MeaningfulName Jaden]], in the English dub) of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX''.
* Back when he was a SelfMadeMan in the court of his country, Sonken aka Chuutatsu from ''LightNovel/TheTwelveKingdoms'' witnessed a terrible level of corruption and cruelty. When chosen as the King of Hou, then, the Jade Colored Glasses were so firmly glued to King Chuutatsu's face to that he became an absolute KnightTemplar and his absolute sense of justice caused him to slaughter a large portion of his own population for minor offenses. His zeal was so terrible that the minor noblemen rebelled, ovethrew and killed him, his ''kirin'' and his wife Queen Kekai, leaving his daughter Shoukei as the last survivor.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Flashbacks reveal that Ryuuken Ishida used to be a WideEyedIdealist who was under a lot of pressure to protect the future of the Quincies. A [[TraumaCongaLine series of disasters]] occurred that culminated in him suffering an HeroicBSOD His HeroicBSOD slid over the DespairEventHorizon when his wife was murdered by the [[TheEmperor Quincy King]] and he's now very attached to the jade-coloured glasses he wears for all things Quincy. His son, who doesn't know the truth, is extremely frustrated with it. [[spoiler:Yhwach's method of murdering Quincies creates a blood clot made of Stil Silver. Ryuuken autopsied his own wife to collect the silver in order to forge the only weapon capable of de-powering Yhwach long enough to kill him. Ryuuken's act ensures Yhwach's defeat, but leaves him forever despising his Quincy heritage. Uryuu accidentally witnesses the autopsy, vows to never become something that's forced to cut up his loved ones, and so changes his mind about becoming a doctor. After learning the truth, Uryuu becomes a doctor at his father's hospital, implying that he now understands that his father performed the autopsy because he was a Quincy, not because he was a doctor, and further implying that Uryuu may also have lost his desire to be a Quincy.]]
* A ''lot'' of people in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', but particularly Annie and Ymir, when it comes to selfishness versus selflessness and HeroicSacrifice, respectively. As the series progresses, Armin becomes more and more accepting of [[ShootTheDog doing whatever it takes]] to achieve his goals. [[spoiler:Renier, Bertolt and Annie]] also suffer from a total loss of hope.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', we have the Seven Warlords of the Sea, barring Jinbe. The past of each member is heavily implied to be so sad that it practically left them jaded on their views of the sea.

[[DontExplainTheJoke The trope name is a pun on Rose Colored Glasses and being "jaded"]]. In an interesting coincidence, with "rose" being a shade of pink, and "jade" being a shade of green, two colors which exist on the opposite ends of a color wheel, jade literally is the opposite of rose.

!Examples:

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has the Doctor himself. For all of his apparent youth and energy, it's hard to forget he's over two, [[VagueAge perhaps even]] three thousand years old and was forced to kill his own people[[note]]at least he thought so[[/note]] in the Time War; he still retains a lot of idealism, but he lets the cynicism shine through every now and again. Very apparent with the eleventh and ninth doctors.

** An extra scene in the New Series reveals this one of the reasons why the Doctor drags Companions around with him. They still have the youthful idealism and wonder that he used to enjoy.

** ''Film/{{Logan}}'': This occurs to Wolverine to a certain extent. He wasn't much of a wide-eyed idealist to begin with, but he was at least on the side of good and hope. By the time of ''Logan'', he's just a man trying to live out the last of his days in peace until he can [[spoiler:take himself and Xavier onto a boat and [[DrivenToSuicide finally kill himself]]]], and flat-out refuses to believe that their are other mutants left in the world, much less that he has any moral obligation to help them if there are.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has the Doctor himself. For all of his apparent youth and energy, it's hard to forget he's over two, [[VagueAge perhaps even]] three thousand years old and was forced to kill his own people[[note]]at least he thought so[[/note]] in the Time War; he still retains a lot of idealism, but he lets the cynicism shine through every now and again. Very apparent with the eleventh and ninth doctors.
** In the ExpandedUniverse, Eight started off as bubbly romantic, but his entire run became darker and darker, until the end where he was ''more'' than willing to [[DrivenToSuicide die off for good]]. It's only because [[ItsUpToYou the alternative was all existence being destroyed]] that he reluctantly regenerated into an incarnation (War Doctor) where the glasses were so dark that he won't use the name "Doctor" to describe himself at that point.
** An extra scene in the New Series reveals this one of the reasons why the Doctor drags Companions around with him. They still have the youthful idealism and wonder that he used to enjoy.
* Marty and Thommo from ''Series/{{Frontline}}''. There are plenty of signs that they both used to care deeply about journalism, but had the idealism ground out of them by years of working in tabloid current affairs.
* In ''Series/{{Bunheads}}'', Michelle started as a dancer with great potential that gradually let it fritter away until she wound up stuck in a dead end job as a Las Vegas showgirl.
* Archie Bunker of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' had a pair of them throughout the whole series (and also in ''Series/ArchieBunkersPlace'') but these got less thick over time. Justified by having lived through TheGreatDepression, having fought in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and having his thoughts discredited by [[TheSixties the counterculture]].
* The eponymous character of ''Series/Merlin2008'' starts out the series as a WideEyedIdealist. However, five seasons of [[ShootTheDog having to do increasingly immoral things for the greater good]], [[YankTheDogsChain having friends that accept him, his girlfriend, and even his father die and leave him alone]], and getting absolutely no credit for saving Camelot and Arthur many, many, ''many'' times while knowing full well that he will be killed if anyone knows have caused him to develop a fairly thick pair of these as an alternative to mental breakdown.
* [[TheAtoner Eliot Spencer]] of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' is this, having gone from an idealistic young soldier to a [[BloodKnight ruthless hired killer]] to the [[KnightinSourArmor character we first meet on the show]].
-->'''Eliot''': You have no idea who I was before all this started. That guy--kid--he had God in his heart and a flag on his shoulder. Clean hands. I haven't seen him in the mirror in more than ten years, and believe me--I get up every morning looking for him.
* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': Richard of Gloucester, a steadfast supporter of King Edward IV, used to be the most idealistic among the sons of York, but the more he's vexed by his eldest brother's glaring flaws, the more his worldview crumbles.
-->'''Richard''': How could he do this to me? Now Edward tries to buy my honour! He confuses me with my brother, George. He does not even know me.\\
'''Anne Neville''': Then send it back and show him you do not care for wealth.\\
'''Richard''': The insult has been paid now. Though everything I thought I knew has been shaken, perhaps there's no honour in anyone and each of us is alone.

* ''Series/{{Doctor Who}}'' has the Doctor himself. For all of his apparent youth and energy, it's hard to forget he's over two, [[VagueAge perhaps even]] three thousand years old and was forced to kill his own people[[note]]at least he thought so[[/note]] in the Time War; he still retains a lot of idealism, but he lets the cynicism shine through every now and again. Very apparent with the eleventh and ninth doctors.

* The eponymous character of ''{{Series/Merlin 2008}}'' starts out the series as a WideEyedIdealist. However, five seasons of [[ShootTheDog having to do increasingly immoral things for the greater good]], [[YankTheDogsChain having friends that accept him, his girlfriend, and even his father die and leave him alone]], and getting absolutely no credit for saving Camelot and Arthur many, many, ''many'' times while knowing full well that he will be killed if anyone knows have caused him to develop a fairly thick pair of these as an alternative to mental breakdown.

* The Music/{{TwentyOnePilots}} song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXRviuL6vMY Stressed Out]] is an example of this as a result of GrowingUpSucks.

* Auron in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' was a WideEyedIdealist and true believer in his first pilgrimage with Braska, but after [[spoiler:he found out the truth and was killed in Zanarkand]], he became a much more [[IncrediblyLamePun sobering]] influence on the pilgrimage with Yuna.

--> '''Aerie''': I've... I've just been thinking. About all this death, all these [[KickTheDog horrifying things]] [[BigBad Irenicus]] has done. He actually [[OurSoulsAreDifferent stole a soul]] and... and all these people died for nothing... And for what? Some "[[{{revenge}} vengeance]]" that Irenicus wants! For that he throws people aside like mere objects?! I... I cannot believe that such evil is allowed to exist! I will not [[{{wangst}} sit idly by and be pathetic]]! I have paid too much attention to my own sorrows and experiences... and not enough to the evil that has surrounded me!

* Squall from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' pretty much had these welded onto his face from a young age, when [[spoiler: his "sister" Ellone was taken away from his orphanage, and due to his use of Guardian Force junctions - which erased his memories - he never got over the trauma.]] As a result, Squall grew up believing that it was better to push everyone else away and refused to make friends or even have any ambitions beyond proving himself strong enough to take care of himself.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* By the time he appeared on ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'', [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Ma-Ti]] was bitter and cynical. He's quite vocal why -- [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway he got screwed over]].
[[/folder]]

This is where a WideEyedIdealist is psychologically beaten and broken down until they become more cynical in their views. May involve MoreThanMindControl, the [[ButtMonkey piling on]] [[TheChewToy of various]] [[CosmicPlaything misfortunes]] [[TheWoobie and]] {{trauma|CongaLine}}s, or simply the fact that GrowingUpSucks, but they end up wearing Jade-Colored Glasses.

This is where a WideEyedIdealist is psychologically beaten and broken down until they become more cynical in their views. May involve MoreThanMindControl, the [[ButtMonkey piling on]] [[TheChewToy of various]] [[CosmicPlaything misfortunes]] [[TheWoobie and]] [[TraumaCongaLine traumas]], or simply the fact that GrowingUpSucks, but they end up wearing Jade-Colored Glasses.

[[DontExplainTheJoke The trope name is a pun on Rose Colored Glasses and being "jaded".]] In an interesting coincidence, with "rose" being a shade of pink, and "jade" being a shade of green, two colors which exist on the opposite ends of a color wheel, jade literally is the opposite of rose.

Supertrope of GrumpyBear, SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids, SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids and TookALevelInCynic.

Contrast ThePollyanna who is endlessly optimistic despite hardship or tragedy, and likely to tell this trope to take off the glasses because SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers.

!!Examples:

** Sayaka comes to a point that she sports a pair after learning some [[AwfulTruth grave]] facts about becoming a magical girl the hard way before [[spoiler: [[DespairEventHorizon becoming a witch]]. ]]

** Then it was [[InvokedTrope invoked]] and then [[spoiler:[[DefiedTrope defied]]]] with this sentence: [[spoiler:"If someone says it's wrong to hope, I will tell them that they're wrong every time. I could tell them that countless times."]]

-->'''Robett:''' I served House Stark once...but House Stark is ''dead''.

-->'''Eliot:''' You have no idea who I was before all this started. That guy--kid--he had God in his heart and a flag on his shoulder. Clean hands. I haven't seen him in the mirror in more than ten years, and believe me--I get up every morning looking for him.

-->'''Lovejoy:''' Finally, I just stopped caring. Luckily, by then [[TakeThat it was the Eighties and no-one noticed]].

[[folder: {{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* Subaru Sumeragi in ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'' and later ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', due the fact that his life is one long, long [[TheWoobie woobie moment]].

* Mimic of Marvel Comics' ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'': An idealist superhero from a near-perfect universe, drafted into a dimension-hopping team, fixing "broken" realities. After seeing one too many far-from-perfect alternate versions of his colleagues, he snaps, and decides some people, and some worlds, aren't worth saving.

* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Mr. Black has this mindset and believes violence is the only way to stop Wily.

* In ''FanFic/ThisBites'', Tashigi ends up getting a pair when she hears about the atrocity that is Ohara, much to Smoker's chagrin.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

--> '''Robett:''' I served House Stark once...but House Stark is ''dead''.

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=1361 Monique notes the progress]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Shiniez}}'' Alan is noticeably jaded about his BDSM lifestyle and how people view it after being tormented for it in college and having had a tragic failed Dominant/submissive relationship.

* The computer hacker "Topper" from the Literature/ChaosTimeline, for some years.
* By the time he appeared on WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Ma-Ti]] was bitter and cynical. It is not known why.
** He's quite vocal why--[[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway he got screwed over]].

--> '''Lovejoy''': Finally, I just stopped caring. Luckily, by then [[TakeThat it was the Eighties and no one noticed]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' had Eugene becoming this when he discovered his childhood hero was actually a [[ThePrimaDonna Prima Donna]] actor. By the end of the episode, he gets better when said actor realizes he was wrong and decides to stand for the ideals of his character by saving the life of Eugene's younger friend.

* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse
** In ''Literature/{{Allegiance}}'', Mara Jade, as the Emperor's Hand, tended to be sharp-tongued but was overall quite idealistic. She consciously felt that the Emperor was [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter "a good and wise man"]], she believed that the Empire was fundamentally good with some foul elements that could be removed from within, and just in general she had a pretty stable existence. We see in ''Literature/ChoicesOfOne'' that she can't even really imagine being anything else, and finds the sensation of missing someone to be alien. The Emperor's death changed everything - his last command to her was "YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER", and it echoed in her head at dangerous intervals, her Force-Sensitivity fluctuated on and off, and she saw the Empire for what it was - fundamentally foul with some good elements, and not ruled by anyone she felt was worthy. In the years after that she bounced between various non-Imperial non-Rebel groups, mostly smugglers, always leaving after her Force-Sensitivity flared up and made her employer uneasy, and although her last employer, [[KnowledgeBroker Talon Karrde]], was by far the best, by Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy she was highly cynical. Mara [[MeaningfulName means "bitter"]], and "Jade" fits that (and one of creator Timothy Zahn's dictionaries also listed, as another meaning for Jade, "discarded woman").

** Leia Organa in Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye has elements of this, contrasting dramatically with her brother. And with her portrayal in the Films.
--> "I saw my whole world, several million people, destroyed," she responded with chilling matter-of-factness. "Nothing mankind does surprises me anymore. [...] We have our devils and our angels, Luke. You have to be ready to handle both."

** Then Harry gets one for himself in the next paragraph.

** One of Sansa's other teachers, Sandor Clegane, went through this in his backstory and also tried to [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids knock sense]] into Sansa before her idealism got her into even worse trouble. Ayra didn't exactly have very rosy specs to start with, but he also helped make her aware of the amount of jading she still needed, too.

* Pretty much Rock by this point in ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Living in a WretchedHive / CrapsackWorld will do that to you.

* For ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Creator/JamesMcAvoy observes in the "Double Take: Xavier & Magneto" featurette that his character's experience with Erik in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' had crushed Charles' [[WideEyedIdealist rose-coloured glasses]].
-->"Erik challenged his world view so much, and then violently took away not just the ability to walk, but also his belief in other people a little bit."
** And it happens (to an extent) to Wolverine in ''Film/{{Logan}}''. He wasn't much of a wide-eyed idealist to begin with, but he was at least on the side of good and hope. By the time of ''Logan'', he's just a man trying to live out the last of his days in peace until he can [[spoiler:take himself and Xavier onto a boat and [[DrivenToSuicide finally kill himself]]]], and flat-out refuses to believe that their are other mutants left in the world, much less that he has any moral obligation to help them if there are.

** An extra scene in the New Series reveals this one of the reasons why the Doctor drags Companions around with him. They at least still have the youthful idealism and wonder that he used to enjoy.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Flashbacks reveal that Ryuuken Ishida used to be a WideEyedIdealist who was under a lot of pressure to protect the future of the Quincies. A [[TraumaCongaLine series of disasters]] occurred that culminated in him suffering an HeroicBSOD. At [[MysteriousPast some point]] between that event and the main storyline, his HeroicBSOD slid over the DespairEventHorizon and he's now very attached to the jade-coloured glasses he wears for all things Quincy. His son, who doesn't know the truth, is extremely frustrated with it.

* Nessiah ([[spoiler:A.K.A. the grim angel Aries]]) from ''YggdraUnion'' was at first a MessianicArchetype. However, after getting cursed and thrown out of [[CelestialBureaucracy Asgard]] by the corrupt magi, he went insane and started the massive {{plan}} that destroyed countless people's lives in order to exact vengeance on Asgard. When a MessianicArchetype gets broken, the result is not pretty.

* Back when he was a SelfMadeMan in the court of his country, Sonken aka Chuutatsu from ''TheTwelveKingdoms'' witnessed a terrible level of corruption and cruelty. When chosen as the King of Hou, then, the Jade Colored Glasses were so firmly glued to King Chuutatsu's face to that he became an absolute KnightTemplar and his absolute sense of justice caused him to slaughter a large portion of his own population for minor offenses. His zeal was so terrible that the minor noblemen rebelled, ovethrew and killed him, his ''kirin'' and his wife Queen Kekai, leaving his daughter Shoukei as the last survivor.

This is where a WideEyedIdealist is psychologically beaten and broken down until they become more cynical in their views. May involve MoreThanMindControl, the [[ButtMonkey piling on]] [[TheChewToy of various]] [[CosmicPlaything misfortunes]] [[TheWoobie and]] [[TraumaCongaLine traumas]], or simply the fact that GrowingUpSucks, but they end up wearing [[TitleDrop Jade-Colored Glasses]].

* Lanselot Tartaros ([[spoiler:A.K.A. Alphonse in the gaiden ''Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis'']]) from ''OgreBattle'' series starts out as a WideEyedIdealist. However, after [[spoiler:losing his best friend and lover by the end of the gaiden]], he became a bitter cynic that we see in ''Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together''.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]