History Jerkass / Literature

** While probably not the worst, Draco Malfoy is the poster-child of JerkAss-ery in the series. A spoiled, rich brat who picks on anyone who he considers [[FantasticRacism a "mudblood"]] even to the point of ''wishing them dead'' in ''Chamber of Secrets'' and whenever he got into and/or caused trouble, his father would always be there to bail him out without any punishment at all [[spoiler: at least until the start of ''Half Blood Prince'']].

** Snape's far from the only teacher who behaves this way. Professor [=McGonnagall=] shows blatant favoritism toward her house as well, even giving them less homework than the others ''just so they can beat Slytherin at Quidditch''. Even Dumbledore appears to favor Gryffindor, his former house, and Harry especially; and he disparages Snape even as he does Dumbledore's own dirty work and shows ''every intention'' of serving him- and the nicest thing he ever says to Snape is "sometimes we Sort too soon," suggesting that Slytherins really are all evil, and Snape is only the exception to the rule.

** Karl Rove is also depicted as being quite a jerkass, commenting after the [[spoiler destruction of Detroit]] that [[spoiler Detroit]] was a Democratic stronghold in the state and maybe the Republicans would win the state easily in the next election.

* In the DiscWorld series, the city guard of Ankh-Morpork tend to be this for reasons of intimidation and respect. Most of the Watch use psychologically brutal interrogation methods and tend to have a hit-or-miss approach to the whole "catching the right guy" thing, which is ironic since their commander, Sam Vimes, is known for being a strong proponent of judicial ideals, even if he is cynical as sin. They are arguably justified in their methods, given how outnumbered they are by the criminal element, and how entrenched into the city structure the said criminals are. However, the officers' sense of responsibility and respect for Vimes, coupled with their propensity for frightening retribution against those who have harmed their own, or committed high crimes, tend to manage crime with some measure of efficiency..

**** Did you, by any chance, remember how ''all'' of the Marauders ended anyway? Let's see: James? Murdered, betrayed by his best friend. Then, his son ended up abused through his childhood and being [[TheWoobie Harry Potter]] in general. Sirius? In prison 12 years and labeled as a dangerous criminal [[spoiler: for something he didn't do]] during the rest of his life. Remus? Lost all of his friends in about one week, got stigmatized for his condition and, when finally getting some good things, [[spoiler: he and his wife gets killed, leaving his son as orphan...while a baby]]. Peter? [[spoiler: Betrayed James, got Sirius in jail, lived as a rat for 12 years, lost a hand, joined Voldemort and was murdered by his own silver hand.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And is eternally bashed by the fandom.]]So tecnically they paid big for what they'd done...

* In Shanna Swendson's ''EnchantedInc'', on a girls' night out, they go to kiss frogs. Katie is warned this is not the way to catch PrinceCharming, because they are frogged for a reason, and InvoluntaryShapeshifting doesn't improve character.

**** Did you, by any chance, remember how ''all'' of the Marauders ended anyway? Let's see: James? Murdered, betrayed by his best friend. Then, his son ended up abused through his childhood and being [[TheWoobie Harry Potter]] in general. Sirius? In prison 12 years and labeled as a dangerous criminal [[spoiler: for something he didn't do]] during the rest of his life. Remus? Lost all of his friends in about one week, got stigmatized for his condition and, when finally getting some good things, [[spoiler: he and his wife gets killed, leaving his son as orphan...while a baby]]. Peter? [[spoiler: Betrayed James, got Sirius in jail, lived as a rat for 12 years, lost a hand, joinde Voldemort and was murdered by his own silver hand.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And is eternally bashed by the fandom.]]So tecnically they paid big for what they'd done...

**** Did you, by any chance, remember how ''all'' of the Marauders ended anyway? Let's see: James? Murdered, betrayed by his best friend. Then, his son ended up abused through his childhood and being [[TheWoobie Harry Potter]] in general. Sirius? In prison 12 years and labeled as a dangerous criminal [[spoiler: for something he didn't do]] during the rest of his life. Remus? Lost all of his friends in about one week, got stigmatized for his condition and, when finally getting some good things, [[spoiler: he and his wife gets killed, leaving his son as orphan...while a baby]]. Peter? [[spoiler: Betrayed James, got Sirius in jail, lived as a rat for 12 years, lost a hand, joinde Voldemort and was murdered by his own silver hand.]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: And is eternally bashed by the fandom.]]So tecnically they paid big for what they'd done...

** While probably not the worst, Draco Malfoy is the poster-child of JerkAss-ery in the series. A spoiled, rich brat who picks on anyone who he considers [[FantasticRacism a "mudblood"]] even to the point of ''wishing them dead'' in ''Chamber of Secrets'' and whenever he got into and/or caused trouble, his father would always be there to bail him out without any punishment at all [[at least until the start of ''Half Blood Prince'']].

* Nynaeve al'Meara and especially Elayne Trakand from the ''WheelOfTime''; they have all the negatives of Aes Sedai, (aloof, egotistical, and rude), and none of the positives (wisdom). They frequently get captured due to not having backup, and when they are saved they never thank anyone. The ultimate example is when they are captured by members of the Black Ajah, and are taken to the Stone of Tear, a fortress that has never been captured, and is only fated to be captured when the Dragon is reborn. Mat Cauthon learns this, he and Juilin Sandar go into the Stone of Tear, defeat several highly trained guards, duel a High Lord of Tear, and rescue them, and they respond by storming off. It's not until they are told to apologize by Elayne's best friend, Aviendha, and her Warder Birgitte that they do apologize. Then Elayne mocks Mat for being basically raped multiple times by a woman, after having first annulled her promise to treat him with respect when she thought that he was the criminal and not the victim.

* In the DiscWorld series, the city guard of Ankh-Morpork tend to be this for reasons of intimidation and respect. Most of the Watch use psychologically brutal interrogation methods and tend to have a hit-or-miss approach to the whole "catching the right guy" thing, which is ironic since their commander, Sam Vimes, is known for being a strong proponent of judicial ideals, even if he is cynical as sin. They are arguably justified in their methods, given how outnumbered they are by the criminal element, and how entrenched into the city structure the said criminals are. However, the officers' sense of responsibility and respect for Vimes, coupled with their propensity for frightening retribution against those who have harmed their own, or committed high crimes, tend to keep manage crime at an efficient level.

* In the DiscWorld series, the city guard of Ankh-Morpork tend to be this for reasons of intimidation and respect. Most of the Watch use psychologically brutal interrogation methods and tend to have a hit-or-miss approach to the whole "catching the right guy" thing, which is ironic since their commander, Sam Vimes, is known for being a strong proponent of judicial ideals, even if he is cynical as sin. They are arguably justified in their methods, given how outnumbered they are by the criminal element, and how entrenched into the city structure the said criminals are. However, the officers' sense of responsibility and respect for Vimes, coupled with their propensity for frightening retribution against those who have harmed their own, or committed high crimes, tend to keep crime at a manageable level.

** Interestingly, the books that ''center'' on the guard tend to downplay their jerkassery, since most of the people exposed to it are AssholeVictims or otherwise deserve it, and the watch members themselves are fairly charismatic and fun to read. In other books, however, it is usually the ''protagonist'' who comes afoul of the watch, in which case they come across as overly paranoid, unintelligent, and needlessly antagonistic. The dissonance between the books can be jarring, to say the least.

** Interestingly, the books that ''center'' on the guard tend to downplay their jerkassery, since most of the people exposed to it are JerkassVictims or otherwise deserve it, and the watch members themselves are fairly charismatic and fun to read. In other books, however, it is usually the ''protagonist'' who comes afoul of the watch, in which case they come across as overly paranoid, unintelligent, and needlessly antagonistic. The dissonance between the books can be jarring, to say the least.

** Interestingly, the books that ''center'' on the guard tend to downplay their jerkassery, since most of the people exposed to it are JerkAssVictims or otherwise deserve it, and the watch members themselves are fairly charismatic and fun to read. In other books, however, it is usually the ''protagonist'' who comes afoul of the watch, in which case they come across as overly paranoid, unintelligent, and needlessly antagonistic. The dissonance between the books can be jarring, to say the least.

** Interestingly, the books that 'center' on the guard tend to downplay their jerkassery, since most of the people exposed to it are AssholeVictims or otherwise deserve it, and the watch members themselves are fairly charismatic and fun to read. In other books, however, it is usually the 'protagonist' who comes afoul of the watch, in which case they come across as overly paranoid, unintelligent, and needlessly antagonistic. The dissonance between the books can be jarring, to say the least.

** And the twins, Fred and George, can play some pretty sadistic pranks, including force-feeding a lizard firecrackers and shoving someone into a toilet for weeks on end. It's even revealed in the [[Defictionalization Defictionalized]] book ''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' that they once beat an old pet Ron had to death for fun.

**Harry himself, especially as he got older. It gets pretty twisted when you realize that a lot of Harry's JerkAss tendencies are shared by... *drumroll please*... ''Snape''. Example: Harry's hatred of Slytherin is just as unreasonable as Snape's hatred of Gryffindor. [[hottip:*: Also: Slytherins are ''not'' unequivocally stupid; Harry is an UnreliableNarrator, and since we see everything from his POV, we're only exposed to Slytherins like Crabbe and Goyle. Consider that Slytherin turned out [[InsufferableGenius Snape]] and [[TeenGenius Tom Riddle]], the latter of which ''Dumbledore himself'' called the most intelligent student Hogwarts had ever seen. In addition, "cunning" and "ambitious" aren't qualities usually associated with stupid people. Hell, I thought Draco Malfoy was BrilliantButLazy, and I ''hate'' that cowardly bitch.]] Harry will look the other way when a Gryffindor does something stupid, against the rules, or otherwise unsavory, but will hope, pray, and call for expulsion when a Slytherin does the ''exact same thing'', especially if that Slytherin happens to be Draco Malfoy. How very Snape-ish of him. And ever notice that, just like Harry is Snape's go-to blame recipient whenever something goes wrong in his general vicinity, Malfoy is the first person Harry blames all the evil-doing in the school on. NotSoDifferent after all, are they? But this is the beauty of Rowling's CharacterDevelopment: That ''no one'', not even The Hero [[spoiler: or anti-hero, in Snape's case]] is a shining, perfect example of a human being. (And that, for all of his faults and JerkAss-ishness, Harry is still a very likable character.)

**Harry himself, especially as he got older. It gets pretty twisted when you realize that a lot of Harry's JerkAss tendencies are shared by... *drumroll please*... ''Snape''. Example: Harry's hatred of Slytherin is just as unreasonable as Snape's hatred of Gryffindor. [[hottip:*: Also: Slytherins are ''not'' unequivocally stupid; Harry is an UnreliableNarrator, and since we see everything from his POV, we're only exposed to Slytherins like Crabbe and Goyle. Consider that Slytherin turned out [[InsufferableGenius Snape]] and [[TeenGenius Tom Riddle]], the latter of which ''Dumbledore himself'' called the most intelligent student Hogwarts had ever seen. In addition, "cunning" and "ambitious" aren't qualities usually associated with stupid people. Hell, I thought Draco Malfoy was BrilliantButLazy, and I ''hate'' that cowardly bitch.]] Harry will look the other way when a Gryffindor does something stupid, against the rules, or otherwise unsavory, but will hope, pray, and call for expulsion when a Slytherin does the ''exact same thing'', especially if that Slytherin happens to be Draco Malfoy. How very Snape-ish of him. And ever notice that, just like Harry is Snape's go-to blame recipient whenever something goes wrong in his general vicinity, Malfoy is the first person Harry blames all the evil-doing in the school on. NotSoDifferent after all, are they? But this is the beauty of Rowling's CharacterDevelopment: That ''no one'', not even The Hero [[spoiler: or anti-hero, in Snape's case]] is a shining, perfect example of a human being.