History Main / TemporaryScrappy

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': Just like in the comics, [[ComicBook/USAgent John Walker]] is appointed to be the next Captain America in [[Recap/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldierEpisode1NewWorldOrder "New World Order"]] after Steve Rogers retires and Sam Wilson declines the role. Both Sam and Rogers' other old friend, Bucky Barnes, have some hangups with this arrangement even before meeting the man; but Walker's brash arrogance doesn't do him any favors as he tends to act like he's owed respect and recognition just for bearing the title. Eventually, the stresses of the job (and feeling inferior compared to Steve's legacy) get to him, and when [[spoiler:his best friend is killed in combat]] he breaks and beats a man to death in public. This results in Walker losing the mantle and being slapped with an Other Than Honorable discharge to avoid a PR catastrophe. Ultimately, he's there to help give Sam the push he needs to claim the legacy Steve left to him.

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': Just like in the comics, [[ComicBook/USAgent John Walker]] is appointed to be the next Captain America in [[Recap/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldierEpisode1NewWorldOrder "New World Order"]] after Steve Rogers retires and Sam Wilson declines the role. Steve and Rogers' other old friend, Bucky Barnes, has some hangups with this arrangement even before meeting the man. Walker's brash arrogance doesn't do him any favors as he tends to act like he's owed respect and recognition just for bearing the title. Eventually, the stresses of the job (and feeling inferior compared to Steve's legacy) get to him, and when [[spoiler:his best friend is killed in combat]] he breaks and beats a man to death in public. This results in Walker losing the mantle and being slapped with an Other Than Honorable discharge to avoid a PR catastrophe. Ultimately, he's there to help give Sam the push he needs to claim the legacy Steve left to him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': In [[Recap/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroesS1E3HulkVsTheWorld "Hulk vs. the World"]], the ComicBook/RedHulk weasels his way onto the team in place of the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk regular Hulk]]. Partly because he is on his best behavior and claims his prior villainous actions were the result of {{Brainwashing}}, and partly because "better teammate than the Hulk" isn't a high standard to reach, especially since the Hulk has been more out of control than usual recently. Since the Hulk is either rampaging or locked up for most of the episode, Captain America takes the role of the one suspicious of the newcomer. Cap eventually breaks the Hulk out of lockup and finds that Red rigged Hulk with an implant to trigger his rage. Of course, finding out that someone manipulated him makes the Hulk mad...

** Dr. Leslie Arzt, an obnoxious KnowNothingKnowItAll who [[RememberTheNewGuy pops up out of nowhere]] a few episodes before the end of Season 1 to parody [[TakeThatAudience fan complaints]] about the show only focusing on a small number of the survivors. He joins the "A-team" on one of their missions, whining and belittling them the entire time, before being promptly blown up waving around a stick of mouldy old dynamite, [[TooDumbToLive while in the process of giving a lecture about how dangerously unstable it is.]]
** Neil "Frogurt", a background character who appears in a webisode in which he is a {{Jerkass}} to NiceGuy Hurley while being TheGhost on the show itself, with the showrunners frequently hyping up his debut and joking that he was the key to all the show's mysteries. When he finally shows up in the series proper in Season 5, he does nothing but complain and is as unhelpful as possible, before being killed out of nowhere by a flaming arrow while [[DeathByIrony whining that the survivors can't get a fire going]].

* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Tara Cole (played by Creator/JeriRyan) is brought in mid-con and already in-character to accommodate Creator/GinaBellman's maternity leave --she plays Sophie Devereaux. The in-story explanation is that ConWoman Sophie Devereaux has created so many false identities that she lost herself in the process. So, in order to find herself, she has to go and kill off her other personas. Despite being clear from the start that Tara's stay is going to be transitory, she grates on characters and audience alike. Primarily, for being much colder, more detached, and more explicit about wanting her cut of whatever profits their cons brought in.[[note]]she misses the team's first mission, which makes the rest of the crew independently wealthy, and leaves them helping others simply because it feels good, so her desire for her cut isn't unreasonable. Unfortunately, the audience doesn't get enough time to sympathize with her[[/note]] She does a good job of showing how well the original team fit together, though.

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'': Just like in the comics, [[ComicBook/USAgent John Walker]] is appointed to be the next Captain America after Steve Rogers retires and Sam Wilson declines the role. Steve and Rogers' other old friend, Bucky Barnes, has some hangups with this arrangement even before meeting the man. Walker's brash arrogance doesn't do him any favors as he tends to act like he's owed respect and recognition just for bearing the title. Eventually, the stresses of the job (and feeling inferior compared to Steve's legacy) get to him, and when [[spoiler:his best friend is killed in combat]] he breaks and beats a man to death in public. This results in Walker losing the mantle and being slapped with an Other Than Honorable discharge to avoid a PR catastrophe. Ultimately, he's there to help give Sam the push he needs to claim the legacy Steve left to him.

Contrast ShooOutTheNewGuy, who is also TheScrappy and quickly removed, but that wasn't the original plan, and HateSink, who is a character that is supposed to be hated for reasons that have nothing to do with being TheScrappy. Compare and contrast AntiHeroSubstitute. For characters that started out as TheScrappy before they became more likable characters, see RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.