NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS

DISLOYAL



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HELPFUL TIP:

Characters with this flaw will be extra sensitive to certain emotions, so think about how events in your story might specifically trigger these feelings to generate compelling tension and conflict. Another idea is to give a supporting character a positive attribute that is an opposite of this flaw, which will get under the skin of both characters and cause friction in their relationship.
DEFINITION:
Being false to one's ideals, allegiances, or duties

SIMILAR FLAWS:
Double-crossing, faithless, seditious, traitorous

POSSIBLE CAUSES:
Having a self-serving and opportunistic nature
Greed
Being weak-willed or easily swayed
A fear of the consequences for maintaining one's allegiances
A lack of gratitude; not wanting to be beholden to anyone

ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES:
Cheating on a partner
Siding against one's allies
Secretly working against one's allies, family or friends
Spying; sharing injurious information about another to one's enemies
Breaking an honor code or betraying ties to one's family, an organization, union, religion, etc.
Dishonesty
Claiming to believe one thing and then embracing an opposing belief
Testifying against a family member or organization
Frequently changing friends
Agreeing with whomever one is with at the time
Abandoning a friend to pursue a more advantageous friendship
Rejecting one's allegiance to a team when the team isn't doing well
Being fickle
Breaking the trust of others
Ruining someone's reputation to gain notoriety or power with others
Selling secrets or technology to competitors
Bad-mouthing one's family, friend, or company
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ASSOCIATED THOUGHTS:
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ASSOCIATED EMOTIONS:
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POSITIVE ASPECTS:
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NEGATIVE ASPECTS:
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EXAMPLES FROM LITERATURE:
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OVERCOMING THIS TRAIT AS A MAJOR FLAW:
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TRAITS IN SUPPORTING CHARACTERS THAT MAY CAUSE CONFLICT:
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