Archived Discussion

This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.

-Hikaru from Hikaru No Go is arguably one, once he gets to know how to play, he barely lets Sai play at all. Leading to Sai disappearing and Hikaru crying his brains out once he realizes why. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero indeed.-

Removed this because its wrong. Sai plays the grandmaster and disappears because he completed his reason for being a ghost. He pesters Hikaru to play a lot at the end because he knows that he's fading away and that they don't have many chances to play each other left. (Naturally, he didn't tell Hikaru this.)

Brickman: Removed a ridiculously long trail of natter about Snape of Harry Potter. How ridiculous? 5 replies worth, with the longest being 10 lines.

Steel Beast 6 Beets: About the Haruhi entry... I've known plenty of people who had given up the series just because Hahuri is such a bitch but this is the first time I see that someone actually declaring that she somehow "gets better" through the series. I, for one, have some serious doubts about this statement.

But again, I don't really care about this series and firmly believe that Haruhi's only redeemable quality is the fact she shows that women are horrible gods.

Geese: She does, sort of. At very least, she gets to be a person rather than an irredeemable maelstrom of sociopathy.

Adonic Meki: RE the example about Ayeka - would a ditz having a petty rivalry really be an example of someone being a "jerkass"? I haven't seen any Tenchi In Tokyo or much of The Simpsons, but the two examples sound pretty different (Ayeka going from formal to ditzy, Homer going from lovable and goofy to callous).

Looney Toons: I'm not entirely convinced this is a real trope at all, and I have my doubts about the Ayeka example, too, if it counts as a trope. Either way, I've put it on the Tropes page so it's findable while we debate its merits.

Keru: I've taken to looking at it this way (for tropes in general): If you can't cite at least three instances of it happening, it doesn't count. (Meki is well aware of my search for a third red-headed girl going insane to fulfill this requirement.)

Kendra Kirai: Remember, Looney Toons... o/~ Ooohhhhh if it's supposed to be a posessive it's just Eeye-Tee-Ess, but if it's supposed to be a contraction it's Eye-tee apostrophe Ess! ...Scalawag! o/~

Andyroid: Kendra, that only applies to its/it's. The posessive in this case is "horse's".

Kendra Kirai: ....oh. Well, crap. And here I wasted a perfectly good Strong Badism.

Tzintzuntzan: If I'm reading the entry correctly, a Jerkass is a character who is much more obnoxious than intended. In that case, Master Shake doesn't count, because the creators planned him to be a complete dick from the start. If he counts, than characters like Peter Griffin count too.

Ununnilium: I really don't think Yukari counts, either. Sure, she's a jerk, but...

Seth: Tomo however... :D I would include Yukari just because some of the things she does are nuts, but she is a more sympathetic example. A teacher who goes on her vacations with students (Consistently) is a sad woman. She would have more friends if she wasn't a jerk.

Tulling: You are perhaps reading a bit too much into it. If the teachers are sad for on holiday with students (obviously a contrivance to have them interact with each other further), you might as well ask why the girls never seem to interact with anyone outside their little circle and why none of the girls ever seem to get any attention from boys.

Ununnilium: I just don't think she's nasty enough to fall into the trope.

(As for why none of the girls ever seem to get any attention from boys, that's nobody's business except theirs and my 20-part hentai fanfic's.)

Later: Any opposition to me pulling it out?

Ack Sed: A little. Yukari's plenty nasty enough - calling Chiyo a little brat;never taking the blame for damn near everything;promising drinks for the whole class then skipping out;consistently leaving Nyamo with the bill...enough? :-)

Ununnilium: She's thoughtless and petty, but not really cruel enough for this trope, IMHO.

"And if anyone knows funny, it's Seth MacFarlane, right? ...Um, right" What's this add on for?

Phartman: Probably because Seth Mc Farlane is not an authority on funny, no matter what his fans say. Here's a dramatized example:

Me: "Wait, this same gag has been going on for almost three minutes now, and Lois just said the F-word five times! Why did they do this, and why should I laugh at it?"

Seth Mc Farlane: "Because it's funny."

Me: "Oh. Well, if that's the case: Ha ha ha!"

Wiki: Huh, I take it you don't particularly care for the works of Seth MacFarlane.

Phartman: Not since Family Guy came back on the air, at least. The first three seasons were mostly great, but after that the show not only jumped the shark, but was then eaten and shat out by said shark. If you object, feel free to remove it. It won't hurt anyone's feelings if you take it out.

Etrangere: Any reason I'm missing for why this is a generic Trope rather than a Characters Trope?

Roland: Doesn't Anomen get better over the course of his personal character arc? Are we counting Jerkass characters who are cured of said Jerkassness?

Ronfar: Yes, Anomen will get better or worse depending on how you handle a specific side quest.

Jester: I don't think he's a Jerkass at all; he's an interesting exploration/deconstruction of Lawful Stupid and The Cape in that he thinks a Paladin should say Lawful Stupid things, so says them (and therefore comes accross as a Jerkass), and he tries to be The Cape. To me which way the plot goes actually affects how you should take what he says beforehand - if he became a Paladin, obviously he meant all that shit and he really is a Lawful Stupid Jerkass, but if he doesn't, that immediately implies the deconstruction angle to me - which means he never actually meant any of the Jerkass things he said.

The fact that he's the only available love interest for female characters doesn't bug me, because I think he is by far the most interesting.

Geese: There's sort of a difference between talking like a cheap romance novel idea of a Paladin (the silly accent doesn't bother me for this reason) and letting the man you've just accidentally rescued die a slow, painful death because you think a Paladin should have better things to do than save a poisoned man's life with a ten minute walk across town. Either way, he's a dick.

Qit el-Remel: Would Bucky Katt, from the comic strip Get Fuzzy, be considered a Jerkass? Or is he just a less-than-sympathetic Cloudcuckoolander? (Character-wise, he's a lot like Master Shake.)

And it's specified that although a Jerkass may be another character type whose foibles have been Flanderized, the defining characteristic of a Jerkass is that he (or she) is "so offensively obnoxious that it is unbelievable anyone would willingly interact with him." Whether or not the character was intended as a Jerkass is not really relevant.

Shiralee: Bucky strikes me more of a heart of gold or alternatively just a snarky opportunist. But I'd need a "Rescue Satchel" arc to be sure. He seems to be a Jerkass to Satchel based on circumstances, just as Garfield enjoys kicking Odie off of tables because Odie is currently standing at the edge of the table staring into space. A true Jerkass would be constantly engineering such scenes.

Andyroid: Cut all this stuff on Dungeons And Dragons, as it seemed to be getting off on a tangent.

The most telling thing about this is he only changes his mind when the spell over her is broken and she reverts to her true form, which is basically the female gremlin off Gremlins 2 without the lounge singer make-up. Also it was great fun seeing the episode at first, because I couldn't remember who the heck Eric was. We were all taking bets, but I figured out it was the paladin after he went for the food, because in situations like this it's always the guy that separates who is the one the antagonist is speaking of. (however I almost recanted when it turned out the besnouted gremlin it belonged to wasn't under her employ)She certainly had strange taste going for a dweebenheimer like that over anyone else in the party.

Charred Knight: Moved Lee Linjun over to The Neidermeyer because it fit better.

Charred Knight: changed some things about the Wheel Of Time entry, removed the reference to Magnificent Bastard since only Egwene, and Siuan are protrayed as good at tricking people. Also I pointed out that most of the females are jerks, and not Jerkass, you can see how for example people can stand Egwene, and Amys, you can't see how anyone would want to be around Elayne.

That Other 1 Dude: Snape isn't a Jerkass because he isn't tolerated more than he's should be, nor does he associate with the people that he mistreats. He's a Sadist Teacher. (As a side note, you should either have the series title in the paragraph, or link an important word to the series page)

Nexus: From what I understand, I don't think Sawyer's an example of this trope. While he IS pretty much an asshole to everyone in much of Season 1, the other characters pretty much react realistically to him and don't really like him or really want to be around him. Now SHANNON, on the other hand...

Chris X: Removed

Who could forget Namco's Tales Series, where almost every single character fits this trope? Good thing the games are Better Than They Sound.

Because... well... not every single character is a Jerkass. I recall that there's not much jerkasses in Phantasia. And Destiny... well there may only be one Jerkass, and that's Leon in the original version. I thought Jerkass is about pissing people off, yet not every Tales characters pisses the other characters around.

Vampire Buddha: this page had so much natter and irrelevant information it wasn't even funny. Well, natter and irrelevant information are never funny, but you know what I mean.

All of this is probably due to various writers' abortive attempts to turn Homer into a kind of Anthropomorphic Personification of America (or their jaundiced view of it, anyway).
- I think it's more he's always been a personification of unbridled Id, but the fans were so intent on ignoring this that when he finally displays unequivocal evidence toward that fact it's considered a horrible shift in character. This is the man, who at the show's most realistic, strangled his son because of minor annoyance. WTF is wrong with this fan base?
Ever watch to movie that started it all. Bloo's personality is so different than in the finalized show it's actually kind of funny.
This troper is pretty sure Meatwad is supposed to be the Cloudcuckoolander. Master Shake is really too much of a Jerkass to fill that role; his main defining characteristic is his being an unbelievable asshole to everyone he runs across (especially Meatwad).
- To be fair, Peter at least doesn't get away with most of these crimes. At least not like he used to. Back in season two, he was a huge jerk to Lois, stealing her play from her and turning it into a large pile of crap, yet seems to get her complete forgiveness with a pithy little apology.
This editor feels the need to mention that Cyclops is actually a very GOOD leader, and in fact is one of the best strategists. And in recent years (in the comics, anyway) has shown less of a self-righteous "I'm in charge" attitude, has begun to act like a badass. Although he is still kind of a jerkass, that's like saying Wolverine is an angry short guy. That's who he IS.
"Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful, rich, clean-cut, gorgeous wife, abs of st-... huh. Yeah, I'm starting to hate me, too."
- Well, it's a little easier to buy from the guy constantly insisting he doesn't play well with others and works best on his own than from the guy whose job it is to unite everyone and make them play well with each other.
- This fan has no idea why you would want to inflict Tenchi on poor Kiyone.
- Nyamo is trying to meet people outside the main cast, and Yukari is good friends with people like Chihiro. She relates to them on a high school, or perhaps middle school, level. They talk about what boys they hate.
And the respective leads, especially the male ones, do not?
- Ranma isn't a jerkass. He just doesn't understand Akane why can't take his lighthearted jokes. Happosai is a real jerkass though, with his habit of stealig women's underwear, which annoys everyone to no end.
You'd think after over a decade of being stalked by them, Ash would have finally lost his temper with Team Rocket and gone to the police or something, but in a recent episode, he actually offered to help Team Rocket train one of their Pokémon in a huge Wall Banger moment. Though I suppose having his Pikachu electrocute them every episode is probably siphoning off much of the frustration.
- You mean like this?
Ash's Corphish is as much of a jerk as you can get for a Pokemon who still obeys his trainer. Of course, he appears to do a lot of the stuff by accident.
- Wait, you mean taking part in one of the most horrific government-sponsored genocides in the history of mankind and killing a scared, gun-toting kid two feet in front of him isn't a traumatic experience?
- Who said it wasn't? However, unless you're just handing Roy a Get Out of Jerkass Free card, it still doesn't mean that he gets to be a dick all he wants while Ed's traumas are just an excuse to be emo, or whatever.
Now that Roy is dead, we may be finding out just how evil Belkar can get.
- Belkar appears to have finally gotten what he deserves when the Oracle posthumously screws him over by building a town around his tower in order to activate Belkar's mark of justice.
The sequel fixes this.
But not before giving him a gigantic Idiot Ball for most of the movie.
He's also gotten a lot better at relating to people after a few experiences, and with people on the team actually treating him like a friend. Of course, it helps that he occasionally accesses that level of badass he took somewhere along the way...
In Addition, this troper never felt Rodney was so much a whiny coward as much as he was a person whose job description regularly puts his life at risk regularly. ALL of the civilian doctors on that show aren't particularly brave, both Zalenka and Carson hated going through the gate. Rodney loves his job and regards the life threatening situations as necesary risks, but that doesn't mean he has to like them. Rodney is still, however, very self-absorbed, but he IS the second smartest physicist from Earth. Being a certifiable top-class genius understandably goes to his head. Finally Rodney is shown to be tolerable and repentant more often than your standard Jerkass. This tropers favorite character is most certainly NOT Rodney Mc Kay.
Of course, it wasn't that hard for him to take over, considering that Will and the Robot were interesting characters only as foils for Smith, and the rest of the cast were as interesting as an untoasted slice of Wonder Bread with cold butter.
Remember when Delita kicked his ass and Algus, in epitomizing everything Delita hated and giving him motivation, indirectly caused the death of most of the kingdom's nobility and two commoners ending up ruling the kingdom? I loved that part.
He came Back from the Dead, exclusively in the PSP remake. But he doesn't change much of his personality. If anything, it could be called non-sexual Fanservice for those who think killing him just once is not enough.
In fact, nearly every single woman in the Wheel Of Time is a jerk. The only exceptions are Birgitte, Min, and some of the Sea Folk Windfinders (mainly because the last are rarely seen and Zaida has them covered). Honestly, after centuries of a somewhat female-biased society one would expect the women to at least have learned to be gracious to their lessers now and again.
- To be fair, Moiraine also managed to get over herself, and Egwene at least seems to be trying. So...four out of dozens.
IIRC, there's a particularly egregious example... Elayne Trakand receives a prophecy from Min saying she will live long enough to give birth to Rand's twins. As a result she takes hugely unnecessary risks, knowing she's got months of survival. Unfortunately, the people around her are not similarly protected. So, not only does she end up getting captured, her escorts get killed.

Charredknight: I don't consider the first part of the wheel of Time thing natter. Most of the females, are protrayed as bitches. Deleted a comment needlessly insulting the FMA anime. I deleted it and changed it to Roy Mustang being a bigger jerk in the anime.

Kyler Thatch: Removed

The 2007 episode "The Family of Blood" shows off the Doctor's dark side when he deals with the family. The fates he gives the various members are quite probably ones you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

Although it's a good description of one of the darker aspects of the tenth doctor, it's not actually an example of him being a Jerkass.

Ozymandias: Some moronic natter... Are you guys sure it's not because HOW DARE THEY not worship baby Sawyer? Fanmorons acting like that completely drove this troper out of LOST, as she came to hate Sawyer (whom she already wasn't fond of) because of his whiny, obsessive fangirls who made him a Draco In Leather Pants. And the troper above is just one example of all the shit This Troper has seen. I've never seen anyone who thinks this. Hell, I've come across fans who claimed (and I'm one of them) that if anything Jack is too accepting of Sawyer and all the shit he pulls in seasons 1 and 2. So, about to remove.

Adam850: Removed-

I find her nice, energetic and somewhat creative and I'm a semi-Ingenue, the only time I really minded was when she lifted up the widdle girl at the precipice. That was dangerous and irresponsible.

Neenee: Q: According to the entry, the Jerkass is oblivious to his own faults, while the Jerk with a Heart of Gold is aware but merely acting. So how do you call (trope) someone who acts like a jerkass, is a jerkass, and is perfectly aware and happy about being a jerkass, but still on the good guys’ side? Take Vegeta for example. I’m pretty sure he was aware of the fact that his snarky alien behaviour drove the others up the wall, but he either enjoyed it or just didn’t care. Does that make him less of a jerkass? Besides, two of the three top quotes seem to be about people calling themselves jerkasses.

Regarding the Belgariad entry reversion - I don't want to start an edit war, so I'd like to explain myself. I added the Disputed entry to be polite, because I felt the other examples might have value, or my *opinion* might be wrong, but both sides deserve to be heard. I am confident that I could prove that the Jerkass label is being applied to characters who are, admittedly, smartasses and won't shut up - however, *that's not the definition at the top of the page*. If you don't like Eddings' humor, I understand that the characters incessant wisecracking would annoy you, although I can't imagine why you would bother to read the book. I'm going to assume there are people who found the characters genuinely insufferable, and leave the Belgariad entry out of courtesy for them. However, I suspect this is just a case of Trope creep, where the definition is being broadened beyond the original trope in order to get somebody's favorite/hated character on the page. To be blunt, I think you're wrong to include the Belgariad at all in this category, but rather then delete your opinion I added my opinion out of respect for you. Please extend me the same courtesy. Mike Kozar

Kulsprutejojjo: I think the image used for the main page here is very unfitting. I believe Cartman is far beyond the status of a jerkass and that the image used is far from the trope describtion, because slicing up a guys parents and then feeding them to him is far from what just a jerkass would do, more slipping into Heroic Sociopath territory. While somewhat related, I may admit, I do feel that the scene in question would fit better in Complete Monster territory than Jerkass territory, simply because the scene depicted goes far beyond the criteria for jerkassery.

Archived Discussion Main / JERKASS