How to handle a victim's reaction being betrayed?-Loved ones

[Twisted-Eva]

I can't fit the whole title in there, but the question is: How to handle the victim's reaction of being betrayed by loved ones or a lover?

I wrote down scenes that had to do with people being attacked and/or killed by their lovers and I'm not quite sure how the reaction should be handled. I can't tell if the current situation and consequence I wrote is realistic of the victim. For example, a male or female betrays and kill their lover for loyalty to someone else/power/money and the victim fell in love with the betrayer too much. Should the victim have a 180 degree change because their lover is trying to kill them and/or successfully does? Or should the victim immediately feel betrayed, shocked, frustrated, or angry and then if he/she is dying, still reverts back to their romantic feelings for them overall? I should just give an actual scene I wrote, but then that would be absolute spoilers. Er... I'll put a scene up if anyone asks.

Therefore, I would like some pointers or examples from existing works that properly portray the feeling of betrayal and then possibly forgiveness. Or just give me your personal opinion on how you would feel if you were fatally wounded and dying, that would make a real-life approach of grasping the modern human's reaction.

[nottiebutt]

There'd probably be denial. If they were dying, then depending on the person, they might still die believing or think it's for the best. After all, if their loved one betrayed them and their loved one was their life, then what would be worth living for? Though, that depends on the person.

Some people might get angry and fight back, possibly killing the loved one themselves. Because a burst of anger like being betrayed makes you stop thinking and just act.

[SundownKid]

It depends on how close the other person is - I would probably be shocked, to the point of not even believing that they could do such a thing (unless of course I harbored a suspicion that such a thing could happen, in which case I would be angry).

I highly doubt that anyone would still feel love or forgiveness for said murderer, though - it's a bit too drastic to "make up" if they actually go through with it unless they are incredibly close to you, like father and son, and the victim is in denial. If they don't, and just attempt it, I could see a possibility of redemption (in the form of the betrayer having a heel face turn).

[Sharm]

I think anger is a perfectly reasonable response. The thing to remember is that anger isn't the opposite of love, in fact all that romantic momentum fuels it, so if something happens to make that anger go away they might just try to go back to the way things were in a remarkably short period of time.

[Twisted-Eva]

I think anger is a perfectly reasonable response. The thing to remember is that anger isn't the opposite of love, in fact all that romantic momentum fuels it, so if something happens to make that anger go away they might just try to go back to the way things were in a remarkably short period of time.

It depends on how close the other person is - I would probably be shocked, to the point of not even believing that they could do such a thing (unless of course I harbored a suspicion that such a thing could happen, in which case I would be angry).

I highly doubt that anyone would still feel love or forgiveness for said murderer, though - it's a bit too drastic to "make up" if they actually go through with it unless they are incredibly close to you, like father and son, and the victim is in denial. If they don't, and just attempt it, I could see a possibility of redemption (in the form of the betrayer having a heel face turn).

These suggestions are a great help for giving me a better idea on how to properly handle a betrayal, but if anger is the likely result if the victim comes out alive, then what could be the reaction when the victim is dying minutes later? At the moment of death, I'm encountering a huge wall as to make a decision that will not cause viewers to flip the table over an unrealistic reaction. The victim's emotion and reaction after being betrayed and living for another day is what I understand, but I have no knowledge on what the reaction would be if the victim died in minutes. Would the victim's opinion changed if the killer was a close partner in a relationship? I don't know if it's a possibility to have a change of heart when you're dying in minutes from bleeding profusely. At best, I can imagine a blank "What just happened?" reaction and the victim is left dead without knowing why s/he was killed.

[Sharm]

The closest I've ever had to an experience like that is in dreams (I remember a lot of my dreams), and on those occasions I've been very shocked, generally upset and tried to find any way out, but I wasn't angry so much as really hurt and confused. Since it's not likely that anyone here nor the person reading your VN knows what it's like to go through this I would just go with your gut and write what you think would happen.

[TsukiShima]

Well, reading your first post, I can only think that the victim will just be clueless of what happened, especially if they are directly attacked without any confrontation like "I'm sorry dearest, but we can't go on" or anything. I think it would make sense if the victim will be mad if they don't even know the killer is their lover and left them to die just like that.

But I can imagine if the betrayer is mostly still have some affections, example tears flowing while killing their lover, saying "I'm sorry", etc., perhaps the victim would still continue to love the killer. But then again there are some people who would still be mad due to confusion.

P.S. I'm a Hopeless Romantic, so my suggestions might not be the best.

[Manga]

Different characters will react in different ways.

For instance, one character may go into almost shell-shocked denial and refuse to believe it, ultimately allowing their loved one to walk up to them and stab them through the chest. Presumably with some sort of sword or knife. Another character will have a similar reaction to that, but will soon replace it with the emotion of pissed-offness. They will then pull out a gun and either shoot their loved one in the face, or in the knee and leave them for dead. And yet another character will just fall to a state of pure confusion. They tend to bleed out and die shortly afterwards.

Of course, it depends on the suddenness of the betrayal. If you're going for a walk and then suddenly your loved one is holding up a gun to your head, you're going to be a bit shocked and confuzzled. Unless they really hate walks.

Best advice I can give is to try and put yourself in your character's shoes.

[Arelune]

Different characters will react in different ways.

^
It'll depend on a lot of factors: how close they were, what's the personality of the victim, what are the circumstances, how much they trusted the other person, ...

Seeing as nobody has given an example, Gungrave comes to mind. If you don't want to see the whole serie and don't mind spoilers: click.

As you can see, he doesn't have much time to react and seemingly remains shocked.
Important information to understand the scene better: Harry and Brandon have been best friends since ages. Harry wants to overthrow their boss, but has overheard a conversation that Brandon would kill anyone who would harm him. Hence Harry feels betrayed and that's why he tests him one final time.

Not sure how much this example helps, but I think it a betrayal scene well done.

[Twisted-Eva]

Again, all of these suggestions are helpful. Especially the last one I read, which was Arelune's example. I guess I'll have to go with my gut on these betrayal scenes and hope for the best from the support of future beta testers.