Question Trauma Trope: The Female Lead Was Killed By Her Male Lead. How is that Even OK!!??

You were killed by your designated ML for whatever melodramatic reasons in the first original timeline.
Then in the new alternative timeline you somehow fall in love with your murderer/the one who caused your death (even if you deserved it)...... So all it's easily forgiven once you know his sad tragic backstory.....
How likely is it that you would develop strong romantic feelings for someone who is responsible for your traumatic death???

How can anyone with common sense decide to be in a relationship with a man who killed you and your loved ones in cold blood in your previous life???
It's just too absurd, insane AND stupid!!!
Can you really forgive and forget about that serious severe trauma?

THE WORST or UNCOMFORTABLE EXAMPLES I saw:
Reminiscence Adonis - Arhad


The Abandoned Empress - Ruvel


Doctor Elise - Linden

From Lady To Queen - Lucio


Your Majesty, Please Don't Kill Me Again - Rupert Edgar

Spoiler: ML Rupert Edgar IMAGE

It's Time to Stop Looking for a New Family - Eli (Mercy Kill)


The Tyrant Husband Has Changed - Khalid

Spoiler: ML Khalid IMAGE

Adeline’s Twilight/Darkest Night - Herace/Hirayth


The Tyrant's Comfort Doll - Rayton

Spoiler: Rayton IMAGE

The Tyrant’s Guardian is an Evil Witch - Alpen/Tita

Spoiler: Alpen IMAGE

The FL made/cursed the ML into a psychotic sad villainous Tyrant in the og timeline.

May I Kill You, Your Majesty? - Castian

Spoiler: ML Castian IMAGE

The Reason Why The Twin Lady Crossdresses - Dillion von Vasilios

Spoiler: ML Dillon IMAGE

Redemption of the Blue Rose Princess - Clovis


The Wolf Lord's Lady - Kaid


The Loyal Knight Killed Me. After Changing to a Yandere, He Is Still Fixated on Me - Cyrus


Olivia and the Neverending Dream - Luke/Oshino

FL gets reincarnated in Modern Japan and meets a boy who looks like her trash fiancé. It's possible he is related to or the reincarnation of that shitbag.

You Won’t Kill Me This Time, Crown Prince! - Denka Ulysses


The Villainess Wants to Enjoy a Carefree Married Life in a Former Enemy Country in Her Seventh Loop! - Arnold Heyne


Preventing The Making of a Tyrant - Jaynen Schuberg

Spoiler: Jaynen Schuberg IMAGE

Crimson Karma - Sage/Luke The Cunt

Spoiler: Sage/Luke The Cunt IMAGE

I Am a Duchess Who Has Rewound Nine Times, but My Tenth Life Seems to Be a Reward Mode
Demonas

And to subvert this trope the FL will find out that it was all a misunderstandings, that the ML had good reasons, he didn't want to kill her, it was actually someone else who killed her and that she was an unreliable narrator the whole time.

 

Normally, I'd say that all storytelling mechanisms have their purpose and that it's a matter of how well the story is executed. But this is one of the cases where I can't see any redeeming qualities in its very concept. If the relationship with the protagonist was so bad that the MLI killed her, what's compelling about rekindling it again? I get that it's part of the romance fantasy but I can't see the appeal of it.

 

I would be grateful to them instead for killing the person I hate most in the world!

It's pretty common for hate to turn into love, in novels at least. Mostly because the reason for hate is either gone or they realize they were wrong about the other person. In your example, the reason for hatred (your death and your family's death) is gone, like it never happened, and now that you pay more attention to him you realize hey, he's quite handsome...

P.S. If you're going to add so many images put them in spoilers to sort the sets of pictures. It's messy and annoying to scroll through.

 

I don't necessarily have a problem with the idea of it, but it depends on how it is done and I do find most examples of it terrible.
For it to work for me the story has to focus on how the characters can change into entirely different people when they go through different circumstances and experiences.
If it is just that now the ML falls in love with with the FL in the new timeline but doesn't meaningfully change in any other way, then I might not even care to give the story a chance.

Though this ties into one of my usual problems with regressor stories in general, that these stories often have events play out exactly the same except for when the main character personally alter things, leaving little room for agency for other characters to make different decisions or even for things to change due to chance.
"Change" is the one draw these stories have for me, so it is really frustrating when authors don't embrace and use it.

 

This is almost always the case. These MLIs don't have much in the way of character traits so there isn't anything there to change. Look at all the second try or retelling stories out there - other than the secondary characters changing due to the world being changed by the protagonist doing different things, do any of them change meaningfully? The only exceptions I can think of are the ones where the character in question remembers what happened the first time round. These stories only care about the romance fantasy so they'll never deliver anything meaty.

 

Eli isn't even the worst example, he is one of the best ones, she wanted him to end her suffering and pledged him to kill her, for those who want to know the situation, she was burning alive (same situation as witches from the past) and Eli shot the arrow into her heart, ending her pain.

 

dude are you ok

I sure as hell wouldn't fall in love with my murderer, but I might read this novel depending on the premise. I actually think I have read something with this premise in the past, but I don't remember it well. Something about a girl being on her third rebirth and the third time she had an opportunity to raise her murderer, so he didn't turn out to be the same guy at all in the end? I am pretty sure I dropped it so... it's not really my cup of tea, but I'm sure like any other trope out there someone has probably made this work before.

But I'd rather read about the sweet, sweet revenge.

 

One of the typical excuses behind their action:

He was brainwashed, drugged, manipulated, he had no choice for the sake of the country or the world, he had to save her in his own way or he himself has unresolved traumatic issues......

Funny thing is, after the rebirth/rewind the traumatized FL has no choice but to play caretaker and therapist for the ML to fix him, if she wants to live/survive this time........
What kind of bullshit option is this?!

I know. Sorry, I should have explained this more. I only mentioned Mercy Kill.

While I do undersrtand that she is grateful for him for ending her suffering at the burning stake, I still find it awkward that she eventually fall in love with him....
He did take her life even when she asked for it.

By the way, this scene reminds me of Game of Thrones where John Snow shoots an arrow at the King Beyond the Wall, giving him a more humane death instead of dying screaming while being burned alive by The Night's Watch.

 

Well, there are women who write love letters to serial killers. They are the ones who like this kind of novels. Not all of us are born with all screws in our heads. I bet they also read novels where the ML cheats on the original, but the MC kissing their ass changes them, and they live happily ever after. Or novels where the ML is an emperor with x + wives and x + children, but now they love/obsess only over the MC... How romantic...

I believe there is a difference between storytelling mechanisms and a writer's own morality or personal beliefs. For example, consider a story set in a medieval time where child marriage is deemed acceptable. If the main character (MC) is from the future, there are various ways to handle the narrative.

One approach might involve the MC being forced into a marriage but waiting until the child grows up, ensuring the best possible childhood for them given the time period. This could be portrayed as a struggle, highlighting the societal norms of the time while also showing the MC's efforts to navigate the situation.

However, if the MC simply goes along with the child marriage without any qualms, such as cooking rice because it's considered fine, it can raise ethical concerns. The only way this could still be considered a storytelling mechanism is if the child tragically died in childbirth, and the MC learns from this experience that child marriages are harmful, leading to a realization that there are reasons why children shouldn't marry at such a young age. This way, the story could serve as a commentary on the negative consequences of child marriage.

In essence, a well-executed narrative can explore challenging topics and historical contexts while still addressing the importance of understanding and reflecting on the implications of such practices. It allows the reader to think critically about the events and the character's actions rather than promoting harmful ideals.

A novel where MC was killed by ML should end in BE if author writes MC+ML romancer otherwise it is a cancer that poisons minds.

 

If the murderer of the reincanated Heroine isn't the narrative's Leading Man, he is then portrayed pretty much as very stupid, pathetic and more inferior than the more powerful superior ML.

Examples:

• It's No Use Hanging On
• The Duchess With An Empty Soul
• IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone
• My In-laws are Obsessed With Me
• A Villainess’ Revenge Is Sweeter Than Honey
• I Decided Not to Pretend I Don't See It Anymore
• She No Longer Wields Her Sword

And even if he is a big threat, the royal prince/king is still for some grandios reasons obsessed with the FL in the second timeline or in her new body.

• The Princess is Evil
• From a Knight To Lady
• Why Would a Villainess Have Virtue?
• In This Life, I Will Raise You Well, Your Majesty!
• The Returnee Noble Lady Attacks His Majesty the Dragon Emperor

You remind me of this YouTube Video Essay:

Dear Internet, Ted Bundy is Not Hot

@quinngoodlive2014
As someone who is actually studying criminology in college, this is honestly sad to see this vile killers being worshipped as idols
@YourMum4242
I hate how people associate being unattractive as a trait of an evil person
@bookwormsensation8024
If you’re embarrassed because you have/had a crush on a fictional character or celebrity just know people have a major crush on literal serial killers.
@andrewmoreno9414
Girl you’re wrong, killers are SUPER HOT… while burning in HELL!!!!!!!!
@rivkatadjer
Imagine having the audacity to shame a victim, to call a young woman a “stupid bitch” for DARING to escape her killer and then getting angry at her for wanting to see him punished. Nasty ass behavior
@star-xz1ne
He killed A 12 YEAR OLD. And people are romanticising him? She could’ve had a wonderful life, grew up, have children, get married but she can never do that because of him. They’re disgusting (bundy & the stans)
@emberproductions8841
“He doesn’t look like a person who could kill anybody.” Well, that’s usually how they get ya.
@charlotte90
They’re right, he didn’t deserve to die. He deserved to rot in jail for a long time, alone and suffering. He didn’t deserve death, he deserved worse.

Those f*cking insensitive TikTok Groupies

 

The only killers I have ever liked were Dexter and Light Yagami, as they killed their own kind. However, Light Yagami perfectly showed how far he was willing to go to keep doing it, as he soon started to kill innocent people. So, instead of liking killers, I like the idea of bad people meeting bad ends, and anti-heroes are there to do the job. I vividly remember that after Death Note ended, I wanted more, so I tried reading fanfiction. However, confusion quickly appeared on my face as most fanfictions were self-inserts with the purpose of romanticizing Kira or L. I was like, "I want more cat and mouse play and killing baddies not this~!" XD

As for real-life killers, they are pathetic little men, just as pathetic as groupies who like them.

 

If the ML kills FL for some stupid reason, then it's very weird if FL gets together with him in a different timeline. If ML kills FL for political reasons, then it doesn't bother me, as the reader.

 

Korean novel/manhua is disgusting and it self fantasy killer as romantic korean novel/Manhua female MC have no dignity. You can just abuse FMC as you want. She will falls for you so hard.

 

Ok it's fine, I didn't see the (Mercy Kill), and I was quite dumbfounded because you add them into the worst one categories, now I get what you mean.

 

Why are you ok with 'ML killed FL for political reasons'?

By the way, have you read The Lady & The Beast?

I actually really like this story but I personally dislike that:

• Another 2nd ML who starts a love triangle conflict with the leading couple (Just to make the ML jealous)
• The FL gets married with the ML who looks exactly like her former true lover the former emperor with different hair color
• The former Emperor from 100 years ago begged/forced the FL to kill him because he was cursed and wanted her to become a queen.
• The ML is tormented by the fact that she still loves this Emperor who might be his former past self....

This kind of silly melodramatic element I do not care about at all.


Other examples where FL killed her ML in the first timeline:

• Revenge of a Fierce Princess
• Dear Nemesis
• I Shall Kill That Sweet Devil
• Sister, In This Life, I’ve Become The Queen

 

In Chinese history, a lot of emperors (potential MLs) killed off entire families, because that was a political norm. If you look at any group with a lot of political infighting, say city-states during the Renaissance for example, having your life ruined due to politics, being poisoned or murdered, and so on, are all commonplace occurrences. And if you look at medieval Europe or early Rus', brothers also waged war against their brothers, and usually the mom picked a side and fielded armies too.

So it seems a bit unrealistic to say FL and ML can't get together because ML killed FL's so-and-so in a past life, if it's a part of life for the ruling elite. Or even if ML doesn't specifically kill FL / FL's family, ML probably kills other people for no morally good reason.

I have a hard time reading these types of stories (rofans), not because ML does something bad to FL, but because the story isn't serious enough so there isn't a good reason for why or how.

My favourite serious treatment of a ML who is genuinely vicious and no-good is the manga Cesare, based loosely on the life of Cesare Borgia, whose family was notorious for this kind of thing.

 

I would love to see a story where the woman is pressured or forced to marry the enemy who eradicated her entire clan and then in bloody revenge managed to kill him + his men!

 

The powerful women in history are all pretty crazy but we don't get anything inspired by them. Like Wu Zetian or Empress Cixi killing off their heirs as regent, Cleopatra killing her half-brother, the Byzantine female co-emperors I don't remember, Catherine the Great's coup-d'etat against her husband despite marrying into a foreign imperial family and having no real background and then conquering the most territory for Russia out of every Russian ruler, her predecessor Elizaveta Petrovna making everyone cross-dress, Maria Theresa (female and probably pregnant) / Catherine the Great (female and German) / Frederick the Great (homosexual) partitioning Poland. (And of even speaking of the women who didn't sit on a throne, what about the Empress Josephine who cucked the Emperor of France? What about Margaret Thatcher, and Indira Gandhi, and Mother Theresa, and all those other women remembered for their cruelty?) We have so many immoral overly powerful MLs and "badass" FLs who Still. Fucking. Aren't the Monarch of the Country. When rofan is even more sexist than reality!

 

The She-Wolf Isabella of France, Saint Olga of Kiev & Christina, Queen of Sweden.

These badass women are not defined or undermined by any men at all!
And in the Rofan Genre it's mostly about romantic melodramas and evil jealousy.

Maybe you can try the very feminist manhwa/webtoon KINGDOM OF THE QUEEN.

 

Ohhh, I gotta check that out.