Originally Posted by Luco.lucky
People that commit genocide in the real world do exist though. Also their are people who commit ritual sacrifice in cults. Their are plenty of stories of people killing each other or themselves for their beliefs like the Heaven's Gate Massacre. The magic element of the game does have a real world equivalent if you remove the fantasy part.
Shadow heart is full of personality, despite the years of her memory being erased. She starts to question her "religions teaching" all the way in Act 1. Everyone starts to question their world view a little in Act 1....except Astarion.

You are ignoring what im saying, and officiating the point. Trying to convince people to commit genocide is NOT normal even in people with sever abusee.
People that commit genocide are Real- Joseph Stalin- Adolph Hilar, The Butcher of Uganda, Mussolini. None of them wanted to just commit genocide because of "abuse" their were several other factors in their behavior like racism, the state of their country and ideology. Most abuse victims don't advocate for genocide ..none that ive heard of .

Please name ONE.
Name someone who was a slave who attempted to commit mass genocide on their siblings and random people. Not their slave masters, not a civil war to become free.

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This just isn't true *most* of the time, its actual an excuse a lot of abuser claim to get less jail time. It reminds me of reading the case study of Son of Sam who claimed a dog made him commit the murder but once you actual start to question people , they will tell the truth on how they just do so because they enjoy it once they run of manipulation tactics. This game wants to use psychology [as the study of abuse is psychology] to excuse bad behavior but in reality the study of criminology or forensic psychology will show that most people who do heinous crimes have high levels of psychopathy. The field of psychology likes to argue if anti-personality disorder and psychopathy are different but here is one definition from the America Psychological Disorder. Its a personality disorder one is born with the core cause not being abuse at all.
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No it is not, this can be debunked by just looking at the low correlation of criminals various victims. Back to reality- living 200+ is impossible but their are plenty of high profile case of victims, usual woma,n who have been held against their will and torture by deranged men for years. Look up "Joseph Fritzl, "Girl in a Box", Ariel Castro" for a few extensive case studies. Their is a clear type of serial killer that does indeed to a 'human' version of what Cazardor does with are meager amount of years we are live. The victims don't grow up wanting to commit mass murder. Some might become activist, most are traumatized and just want a normal life. When serial killers who do seem to kill people based of their abuse they have a type. They don't just kill randoms.[That's one of keys to knowing its a serial killer, the fact that they have a victim type or specific type of person they kill]

You're taking things extremely literally and derailing them to points the story was clearly not trying to allude to. Astarion's story isn't about genocide, even if he can commit it. It's not about the very literal example of "a slave who attempted to commit mass genocide on their siblings". I mean, while you're at it, you might as well ask to name a real person that was the son of a patriar and had to make a dangerous almost self-immolating deal to stop a murderous cult.
Just as another example, even the way more grounded show Breaking Bad wasn't about the real life possibility and precedent of a cancer patient becoming an incredible murderous drug-lord and thus painting cancer patients in a bad light implying there is somehow a real life equivalent where they will kill people because of that experience, it was about hubris and the powerless seeking and unhealthily revelling in power. Tons of stories aren't *literally* about what's going onscreen. They're exaggerated or written in a specific way to get the point of the story or character across.

Bringing up horrible real historical figures is obtuse, and honestly, maybe a bit tasteless. Evidently, trauma or abuse isn't the reason they did all that, and it's dangerous to think that's what trauma does to a person, but it's well known that some abused people will cope in unhealthy ways that will harm others.

The rest of your points are again very literal, and I find the comparison to another real serial killer in poor taste, very unrelated to what I was saying, and ignoring my points about how it's not about that at all, but as someone who has personally gone through extensive familial abuse and trauma, I really need to emphasize that abused people can lash out and be really toxic. Not all, maybe not most, but this is well known and discussed, so please don't try to shut me down and say "back to reality", or say it's an excuse to get less jail time. I'm definitely not a criminal, but I know a metaphor when I see one, and I also know when I'm seeing traits I've displayed being portrayed onscreen. There is a reason Astarion's story has resonated with a lot of people, and I've also seen them talk about how it's made them reflect on how they were harming others.

While also sometimes a cliché in fiction that doesn't always apply to reality, a perhaps clearer example of what I'm talking about I have found to be true on ocassion is that a lot of middle-school bullies have horrible lives at home, and they're finding a way to feel powerful somewhere else. That kind of trope is actually closer to what Astarion's story/characterisation is about, rather than about genocide or genocidal tendencies, even if that's a possible element in his story.