History Main / ThisLoserIsYou

* [[TheHero The protagonist]], Vyse, can become this if you get a low [[ButThouMust Swashbuckler Rating]] in ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia.'' The complete embodiment of this trope is having between zero to five points (and it ''does'' take some effort to sink that low) thus earning you the title "Vyse the Ninny." The result of this will be ridicule from [=NPCs=], higher store prices, and the inability to access certain features, such as crew members (one of them needs a high rating to get).
** The absolute lowest is actually implied to be "Vyse the Fallen Pirate," but this is only triggered in the [[VideoGameRemake remake]] via an in-game event and doesn't affect you in the same way the regular ratings do. When you defeat three particular enemies, your rating skyrockets.

* Travis Touchdown of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' is... well... every negative stereotype of an {{otaku}} there is. Creator/Suda51 is not subtle. And then ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' has him ''undoing'' all of that, becoming a character worthy of actual respect... or at least approaching it. And even then he's still way more of an otaku than most.

** Hell, the gameplay itself is considered to be an allusion to the (stereotypical) player. From the [[Headscratchers/NoMoreHeroes Headscratchers]]:

* Despite being a HeroicMime, Link semi-qualifies in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' due to how the games cutscene-humor tends to abuse him (at least until he gets badass later on). It is very easy to picture him scoring 10% on a math test, despite being able to take on the most complicated dungeons and puzzles known to man. His often very, very clueless expressions really don't help. To quote King of Red Lions: "You are... surprisingly dull witted..."
** The interesting thing about this example in ''Wind Waker'' is that the game repeatedly shoves in the player's face that this Link ''IS NOT THE HERO OF TIME NOR HIS REINCARNATION''....that's right, you're effectively some nobody kid dressed up in garb in remembrance of the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Hero of Time]], but nothing more...no dreams about you kicking evil dark lord ass, no prophecy about how you'll save the land, ''nothing''. And after all that, this Link...goes on to meet his own destiny, not as a prophesied hero, but the Hero of Winds through sheer will and perseverence alone.
* Lose enough units to get enough [[https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Replacement_character replacement characters]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon'', and eventually you'll get ones with insulting names. Note that to get the best secret characters, you ''have'' to keep your army small, and there will be some times where picking up replacement characters (which happens automatically) will put you ''over'' the desired army size.
* ''VideoGame/ForumWarz'' [[ZigZaggingTrope can't quite make up its mind]]. On the one hand, you're fat and living in a basement, and you spend most of your time either {{Troll}}ing message boards or masturbating to bizarre pornography. On the other hand, you're the OnlySaneMan in a [[CrapsackWorld spectacularly messed-up world]].
* Part of the JustifiedTutorial in ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'' involves the protagonist giving explanations to his young daughter about light and shadow and why the latter isn't as scary as she thinks. The guys at ''WebVideo/{{Unskippable}}'' [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/unskippable/1699-Splinter-Cell-Conviction point out the implications]]:
-->'''Paul:''' It is refreshing, though. This is the game ''literally'' explaining the combat mechanics to you as if you were a child.

* This is a selling point for ''VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject'': You (as in, you the player) are the most pathetically weak protagonist of all time, and the world's greatest hero has just died and passed on his mantle to you. Better start grinding.
** Subverted in the WHAMEpisode that reveals that the HeroicMime actually has a past, and at least one [[{{Determinator}} personality trait]], upgrading him to IronWoobie status. [[spoiler: His entire family has hated him for his weakness for the past eight years thanks to an incident where, unbeknownst to them, he saved his sister from a cannibal by letting himself get beat up over and over again.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DivineDivinity'' your diary contains some observations on your stats, which were uniformly insulting until you got them fairly high, which took grinding and focusing on only a few. As a starting character, even though you look and act like an average person, your diary paints a portrait of a crippled, bumbling simpleton who gets winded from getting out of bed and has trouble forming sentences longer than three words. Made worse when you realize it's your own diary, meaning the person who wrote those horrible things was ''you''.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' introduced a new quest in the Cataclysm Expansion that consists of the player hopping on an NPC's horse and becoming an actual questgiver while 3 [[ItMakesSenseInContext NPC PCs]] approach to accept a quest. The first is named Dumass and is a perpetual moron who speaks in all caps and behaves like the players everybody loves to make fun of. The second is Kingslayer Orkus, who is a fully decked out, high-end raiding warrior who comes looking for stuff to do, and despite being geared to the high heavens, balks at even the ''slightest'' bit of danger. and the third is Johnny Awesome, who is that one pompous dirtbag in [[NewGamePlus heirloom gear]] with a real money mount who brags of his awesomeness, everyone wishes would shut up, and [[BreakTheFourthWall leans on and occasionally punches holes in the fourth wall]]. Bonus points for Johnny Awesome actually referencing TwentyBearAsses.
** [[PlayingWithATrope Inverted and played straight]] by the quests Mystery of the Infinite and Mystery of the Infinite Redux. The former includes a Future You NPC, and latter a Past You NPC. Both state they are kind of ashamed of you... while looking exactly like you, implying you don't improve at all, and goes about combat in a way that would pretty much be very incompetent if a player actually did that (as in they just run up and hit stuff).
** The Legion expansion has a quest where you [[RoleReversalBoss play as Illidan Stormrage defending the Black Temple]]. The developers made a raid of characters (including Johnny Awesome) who are well... as bad as most players in 2007 actually were, but a lot worse than anyone wants to admit they ever were. Also, you have to lose to these schmucks, because the plot says so. To make matters worse, they take your [[CoolSword cool warglaives]], the bastards.
* Pretty much the whole point of Vincent, the weak-willed, cheating protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}''.[[note]] Technically he isn't sure if he cheated due to alcohol, but is so skittish that he never works up the courage to properly talk to the woman he may have committed the act with and figure out what happened.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/TakeshisChallenge'' is a game which involves making a {{Salaryman}} get drunk, divorce his wife and quit his job. The game even makes fun of you for actually trying to beat the game pointing out that you have just wasted your time getting trolled.

%%* In ''VideoGame/GitarooMan'', This Loser Is U-1.
* The actions you commit in ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' are basically one long string of the game saying, "You suck for buying\renting this game, you suck for playing it, you suck for liking it, you suck for buying\renting other shooter games, you suck for playing them, you suck for liking them..." This is best summarized with a line that is LeaningOnTheFourthWall.

* Captain Blubber from ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' can be viewed as this. For one thing, he cries because when he loses his gold in the first game.
* Your PlayerCharacter in ''VideoGame/FreedomWars'' is treated like this, due to your being a prisoner in the [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] Panopticon. You get no shortage of flack for being so selfish as to be born, lose your memory, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking take more than five steps in your own cell]].
* Stream from ''VideoGame/{{Divekick}}'' is a goofy-looking, hate-filled demon in a straight jacket who spends all of his time on the Internet and only derives pleasure from trolling people. He is meant to mock the typical viewer of fighting game streams, known as a stream monster.

%%* ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 "It's official: you suck!"]]''
* Taken literally with the nameable protagonist of the VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/GoGoNippon'', a dorky, socially awkward OccidentalOtaku ManChild who goes to Japan without knowing anything about it, thus implying that his only learning materials were manga, anime and games. Because the game was made with a foreign audience in mind (an unusual case in the mostly Japan-only world of [=VNs=]), and the FeaturelessProtagonist is supposed to be an avatar for the player, This Loser Is literally ''You'', the player! He still gets the girl in the end, though.
* In ''VideoGame/PokerNight2'', most of [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} GLaDOS]]' dialogue directed at [[FeaturelessProtagonist The Player]] indicate this, but then again, so does her dialogue with just about ALL of the characters.
-->[[AC:I wouldn't be ashamed about losing. You have plenty of other things to be ashamed about.]]
* Trevor, one of the main playable characters in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' is psychotic, brutally violent, a sexual deviant, and constantly threatens his friends with sexual and violent acts if they keep pissing him off. He's (supposedly) a representation on how a typical GTA player acts in the game. On a similar note, Jimmy, who is the son of Michael, is a young adult in his early twenties that refuses to get a job, mooches off of his parents, smokes weed all the time, [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbates constantly]], and plays video games all day while [[InternetJerk telling other players that they're gay and how he'll rape them and their mothers]].

* Nikki from ''VideoGame/HuniePop'' is a stereotypical GamerGirl and not even a particularly flattering one at that. She is a misanthropic {{NEET}} who works part-time as a barista (and is rude to her customers) and spends her days playing video games and eating junk food. Yet she is a firm fan favourite, and even major streamers like [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit TotalBiscuit]] found her the most endearing heroine.

* Moneybags from the ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' series. He was never treated with respect in the third game.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

:: It should be noted that in contrast he put heroic, or at least positive, characteristics in Bugs Bunny ("Bugs is what I wish I was; Daffy is what I fear I am.") It's also worth noting that Daffy's frequently portrayed sympathetically, and unlike Bugs, can actually lose. Daffy may be emblematic of neuroses about failure, but a lot of people find him funnier than Bugs for just that reason. Amusingly during the odd occasions Bugs lost, his character was inexplicably converted to this, quickly losing all his composure at the premise of someone actually managing to outdo him (perhaps most evident in his rivalry against Cecil Turtle) where HE was the VillainProtagonist. Daffy was the more consistent loser, but at least that meant he was slightly more accustomed to it than Bugs, [[SoreLoser who couldn't take it back at all]].

* ''VideoGame/LesterTheUnlikely'' is the embodiment of this trope. He's an overwhelmingly {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed, mid-20th century {{nerd}} stereotype who takes [[MadeOfPlasticine damage from falling off a small distance off a cliff]] and [[ArtificialInsolence runs away scared from every new creature he encounters, even a turtle]]! Undoubtedly, gamers either saw too much of themselves in him, or saw [[ExpectationLowerer too little]], which is probably why the game has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZj-MjOakZY so much hate]], as WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd [[http://cinemassacre.com/2010/11/03/avgn-lester-the-unlikely/ pointed out:]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'': In the Season 9 finale, the {{Nerd}} volunteers to perform a death-defying stunt to save the show from cancellation since he best represents their target demographic.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' the New Republic tries to recruit the Blood Gluch Crew to their side during the Chrous Civil War trilogy, believing them to be the "[[MistakenForBadass galaxy's greatest soldiers]]" for having taken down Project Freelancer. After they succeed in recruiting Tucker, Caboose, Grif, and Simmons, General Kimball quickly realizes that they aren't the soldiers she thought they were; they're misfits and oddballs. However, this works out even better, because the New Republic soldiers can relate to them and have a major boost in morale because of it. [[spoiler:It is implied this also happened to the Federal Army after Agent Washington, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez joined their side in the war, and it becomes a plot point when Felix is [[EvilGloating gloating]] that the crew gave the citizens hope, and just made them fight harder and die faster.]]

In many shows, mostly comedies and children's programs, [[LoserProtagonist a protagonist]] or another major character is an ugly, incompetent, [[TheSlacker lazy]], and near illiterate [[TheDitz ditz]]. This is supposedly to allow the audience (i.e., you) - say for insecurities or arrogance in the face of one's flaws either way - to [[LeadYouCanRelateTo identify with the character or protagonist]]. Ergo, ''the [[LoserArchetype loser]] protagonist is [[AudienceSurrogate you]].'' This also allows for more room for CharacterDevelopment, a ''lot'' of CharacterDevelopment...or [[StatusQuoIsGod none at all]]. This also makes it easier for writers to come up with the [[IdiotPlot plot of the week.]]

Note that this same person's friends are all clever, athletic, highly competent and, above all, cool. Why such an implausible situation? It's because, while the protagonist sucks just like a lot of people watching should, at least he has friends that are just the kind of people they wish they or maybe you knew. Which is supposed to make you identify with him even more. At least, that's what the network executives seem to think. As far as they're concerned, ViewersAreMorons.

This Loser Is You may lead to GoodIsDumb when the morality of this sort of main character is portrayed as inversely proportional to their capability (especially on an intellectual level). A partial subtrope of AudienceSurrogate. Not to be confused with TakeThat, when someone openly expresses his hatred for something, often in a witty manner. Also not to be confused with AWinnerIsYou, which is something else entirely.

In short, this is where the {{everyman}} character or AudienceSurrogate is a "typical" loser like [[LowestCommonDenominator half the audience]] is imagined to be. This is usually intended to make them endearing. A sub trope is LoserProtagonist.

This isn't about, say, a work outright saying that the audience or viewer sucks. Also, this trope is '''''not about hostility''''' toward the audience. For that, see YouBastard, ViewersAreMorons and/or TakeThatAudience. Also is rarely {{justified|Trope}} with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant despite what you might think.]]

* ''Series/MyLovelySamSoon'': How to make Sam-soon a relatable heroine? Well, make her supposedly too old to get married (even though she's only 30). Make her supposedly overweight (even though she's obviously Hollywood Pudgy and the actress is quite lovely). Then give her a lot of minor flaws, like how she sometimes drinks to excess or is over-emotional or has gauche table manners or occasional flatulence. Presto, you have one everywoman heroine.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMQbGWZZy9E Susan Whitfield]] on ''Series/{{MADtv}}''.

* ''Manga/KamichamaKarin'': The titular Karin takes this trope UpToEleven. Her ''only'' good feature is her fairly-cute looks. She's ''terrible'' academically, routinely scoring a flat 0 on tests, and celebrating wildly when she got through a test as the 30th-worst in the school (after weeks of [[TrainingFromHell Studying From Hell]]). She's also terrible at athletics, including combat-training. And yes, even when she summons ''the unlimited power of the Goddess Athena'', she continues to [[HowDoIShotWeb suck at using it]]. She's not even good at making friends - before the story started, her only friend was her ''cat''. Arguably, the only reason why she's the central character is that the antagonists wants a Goddess Ring, and she's by far the easiest target. Even towards the end, she never really recovers from her suckitude - she wields ThePowerOfLove, but WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway

* Trevor from ''Webcomic/{{EVIL}}'' serves as the AudienceSurrogate and is a [[TheSlacker total slacker]] who [[MinionWithAnFInEvil isn't very good at being a villain]].

* Arthur Dent from ''Series/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series, at least in the earlier books. He spends a good part of the books confused and distressed. Later, however, learns how to fly and even saves the galaxy.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE6iAjEv9dQ Online]]" by Brad Paisley is all about this trope. The main protagonist is a geek who delivers pizzas, drives an old Hyundai and still lives with his parents He's also an asthmatic who stands 5'3" and has "[[SexAsRiteOfPassage never been to 2nd base]]".

** Even Gintoki Himself, when he is not [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass being badass]]. He is a lazy and [[{{Manchild}} childish]] twenty-something guy living on odd-jobs for cash who [[PerpetualPoverty can never]] pay his rent...and an avid reader of ''Magazine/ShonenJump'', the very magazine in which Gintama is published.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Philip J. Fry. One of the main cornerstones of the series is for Fry to be a loser and either never succeed in anything he attempts or, if he does, for something to go horribly wrong to set things back to normal by the episode's end (or else [[NegativeContinuity there will be little or no mention of it ever again]], Roswell excepted). Whether relationships, money (he was a '''[[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted billionaire]]''' [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted for exactly one episode before he lost it all]] by [[WhatAnIdiot revealing his secret PIN]]), or anything else, Fry will invariably screw up. He also TookALevelInDumbass as the series went on, and absolutely will ''not'' get better permanently unless the series is ending (and will be just as quickly undone if it is renewed).

* Ruben Bolling parodies this with the recurring character of "Dinkle, the ''Un''Lovable Loser" strips in his comic, ''ComicStrip/TomTheDancingBug'', wherein Dinkle portrayed as not just a loser, but also a rude, racist, vaguely sociopathic alcoholic and narcotics abuser with extremely bad personal hygiene, and is in addition implied to also be violently mentally ill, a kidnapper, and an arsonist. It is probably for the best that he never wins.

* Ruben Bolling parodies this with the recurring character of "Dinkle, the ''Un''Lovable Loser" strips in his comic, ''ComicStrip/TomTheDancingBug'', wherein Dinkle portrayed as not just a loser, but also a rude, racist alcoholic and narcotics abuser with extremely bad personal hygiene, and is in addition implied to also be violently mentally ill, a kidnapper, and an arsonist. It is probably for the best that he never wins.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookdocks'', Riley Freeman is the author's go-to example for lampooning everything he hates about "gangsta" culture. Throughout the series, Riley is shown to be a willfully ignorant, foul-mouthed, sexist troublemaker who is squandering his potential to admire brainless criminals, often making himself look incredibly stupid in the process.

** Shimura Shinpachi is designed to look like a [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy Ridiculously average japanese teenager]] (even the pattern of his kimono evokes a jersey), and other characters will often joke about how his [[{{Megane}} glasses]] are his only defining characteristic. And he is the one to act the most often as the AudienceSurrogate and OnlySaneMan.

** The lead character is Dave Lister, a crass, uneducated, unintelligent slob who was the lowest ranking crewman on the ship and whose highest ambition in life was to live in Fiji and own a hotdog stand.

* ''Manga/KamichamaKarin'': The titular Karin takes this trope UpToEleven. Her ONLY good feature is her fairly-cute looks. She's TERRIBLE academically, routinely scoring a flat 0 on tests, and celebrating wildly when she got through a test as the 30th-worst in the school (after weeks of [[TrainingFromHell Study From Hell]]). She's also terrible at athletics, including combat-training. And yes, even when she summons ''the unlimited power of the Goddess Athena'', she continues to [[HowDoIShotWeb suck at using it]]. She's not even good at making friends - before the story started, her only friend was her ''cat''. Arguably, the only reason why she's the central character is that the antagonists wants a Goddess Ring, and she's by far the easiest target. Even towards the end, she never really recovers from her suckitude - she wields ThePowerOfLove, but WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway

** Pictured above is Homer Simpson. And while he ''is'' fat, ugly, lazy and stupid, there's enough of a good human being in there for him to get some successes over time.

* Pretty much the whole point of Vincent, the weak-willed, cheating protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}''.

* Gang-du from ''Film/TheHost'' is an [[DumbBlond absent-minded]], [[TheKlutz clumsy]] everyman who gets thrown into conflict, practically by accident. What makes him stand out, however, is his tremendous physical strength and unshakeable determination to make sure his life goes back to being ordinary and unremarkable.

** PlayedWith; While most pink-type ''Anime/PrettyCure'' leads after her tend to fall into this, [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Tsubomi Hanasaki]] really took the cake at first. Shy, introverted, not much of an energetic person, and having her first battle (against a Desertian no less) end in a loss on her end, both [[NonHumanSidekick Chypre & Coffret]] had decried her as "The Weakest Pretty Cure In History"...which is admittedly true in Episodes 2 to 4, [[InformedFlaw only for that title to be ironically misleading starting in Episode 5 where her victories outweigh her defeats by a far greater number (even before Yuri joins the Pretty Cure team in Episode 34)]]. Aside from the series showing Tsubomi's evolution into a much more stronger person, when we see her in ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars DX 3'', she's busy helping RookieRedRanger [[Anime/SuitePrettyCure Hibiki]] when the teams are scattered.

For the Creator/ChristopherMoore novel ''You Suck: A Love Story'', see ''Literature/BloodsuckingFiends''.

For the webcomic by Jackie Lesnick, see ''Webcomic/YouSuck''.

** PlayedWith; While most pink-type ''Anime/PrettyCure'' leads after her tend to fall into this, [[Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure Tsubomi Hanasaki]] really took the cake at first. Shy, introverted, and not much of an energetic person, both [[NonHumanSidekick Chypre & Coffret]] had decried her as "The Weakest Pretty Cure In History"...which is admittedly true in Episodes 2 to 4, [[InformedFlaw only for that title to be ironically misleading starting in Episode 5 where her victories outweigh her defeats by a far greater number (even before Yuri joins the Pretty Cure team in Episode 34)]]. Aside from the series showing Tsubomi's evolution into a much more stronger person, when we see her in ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars DX 3'', she's busy helping RookieRedRanger [[Anime/SuitePrettyCure Hibiki]] when the teams are scattered.