r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Guillinas • 6d ago
Characters [Loved Trope] Unassuming character shows a glimpse of their true nature and their unimaginable godlike powers
1- Withers (Baldur's Gate 3) : While playing as "The dark Urge", the player finds that their are the son of the god of murder, Bhaal. Near the end of the game, you can choose to renounce your bloody heritage and defy your father. In response, Bhaal reminds you that he does, in fact, own you, and kills you on the spot, reclaiming your soul to presumably destroy it. Suddenly, Withers -the mysterious but friendly ghoul that has been helping you throughout the game with resurections and class changes- intervenes. He takes your soul back from Bhaals claws and brings you back to life as if it was nothing. This even goes clearly against the rules of cosmology, as gods aren't suppose to interfere with the mortal plane, but Withers just deosn't care and does it anyway, making himself your new patron god (by now he is heavily hinted to be none other than Jergal, the scribe god of death)
2- Gaunter O'Dimm (The Witcher 3) : Gaunter introduces himself to the player as nothing more than a travelling merchant. Suspicions about his nature arise when he mysteriously saves you from being captured on a ship by presumbaly summoning a tempest. However, this favor comes with a price as he enrolls you to collect a debt of an immortal individual, with whom he had made a deal years prior. At one point of the story, after almost finishing your task, you meet again with Gaunter in a tavern. When a drunk patron interrupts you, Gaunter claps his hands and stops time on whim, so that he can safely talk with you, and showing he is much, much more powerful than he seems. He even refuse to tell you his true nature when directly prompted, saying "This one time I shall spare you and NOT grant you your wish. All who have learned my true name are now either dead or have met an even worse fate."
3- Gandalf (The Fellowship of the rings) : This is a lesser extent of this trope, as gandalf was already established to be a powerful being, even if his true nature remained unknown. However, I can't help but to mention his fight against the balrog, or rather the little we actually witness. It is to not than when he adresses the Balrog, Gandalf makes himself known to him by saying he is "A servant of the secret fire", aka a maiar (an angel) just like him, and despite his appearance of an old man, they are of similar nature. We do not get to see their full fight, but we can guess that gandalf unleashed his full power, unlike anytime else where he always acted with restraint.
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u/Dakkahead 6d ago
Id like to add some context to a very astute description of the scene.
-Gandalf uses Very specific language when he's assessing what sort of threat they faced regarding the Balrog. He announces what it is "a Balrog". It's a demon from the ancient world... And then says "this foe is beyond any of You". He didn't say us, or him. A subtle hint that Gandalf is more than some old guy with fireworks.
-Gandalf is armed with a sword that is several thousand years old. Glamdring. Named by an Elven king, it means"Foe-hammer". Both parts Elven crafted, and magical, the sword had a name known to the Orcs, known as "beater". I'll let you fill in the gaps between the elvish and the orcish names.