In Kabuki (traditional performing art) and Kodan story-telling, 'easy-to-understand stories of rewarding-good-and-punishing-evil' were favored, and given the theme of sympathetically rooting for the underdog (in this case Yoshitsune) as a tragic hero, Kagetoki was cast as an evil enemy who had trapped him.
分かり易い勧善懲悪が好まれた歌舞伎や講談で義経を悲劇のヒーローとする判官贔屓とあいまって、敵役の景時はこれを陥れた大悪人とされたのである。