History Main / UnintentionallySympathetic

** There have in fact been several parodies and "unofficial" sequels where the ''nisse'' either gets his comeuppance for his selfishness (he ends up getting a stomachace because he ate too much) or feels bad about his behavior and makes sure to give the rats some food. The most popular one is probably the Danish song "Søren Banjomus" (sung to the tune of the song "Skidamarink"), in which the rats (in this song presented as mice) wait until the ''nisse'' and the cat have fallen asleep and then raid the pantry.

** Note that the above was revealed by ''Anthony'' while begging Liz to wait for him -- he even explains that he made false promises to Therese so she'd have his child, assuming [[BabiesMakeEverythingBetter having a baby would make her]] [[StayInTheKitchen fall into line]]. He thinks this makes him ''more'' sympathetic.

* In the original run of ''Theatre/MissSaigon,'' Kim's fiancee Thuy is portrayed as a violent {{Jerkass}} who, among other things, attempts to murder [[AsianBabymama Kim's part-American infant boy who she had with the soldier Chris]]. On the other hand, Thuy REALLY gets the short end of the stick. [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters He's a Vietnamese guerrilla fighter]] who hasn't seen his fiancee in a ''long'' time because of said war, and [[KissingCousins since he and Kim are also related,]] NEITHER of them have any family left. Combined with how Kim is one of ''many'' young women who had [[AbandonedWarChild mixed-race children with departed soldiers,]] and the revival's portrayal of Thuy as much more sympathetic than the original run made him, it's easy to wonder if Thuy's actions are actually [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome a result of untreated PTSD.]]

[[folder:Mythology]]

** Striker. On first appearance he was a competent hitman hired by Stella to assassinate Stolas as revenge for his cheating. It was revealed that Striker didn't much care about Stella, he just wanted to kill Stolas due to him being a royal, since royals/Overlords treat imps as an underclass. While initially portrayed as antagonistic due to being willing to hurt Millie and Moxxie while on the job, Striker later undergoes VillainDecay, becoming less of a credible threat with each appearance, with Blitzo even going as far as referring to him as a supremacist. While Striker showed unmistakeable internalized bigotry against imps in his first appearance (calling Moxxie weak, etc.) he [[StrawmanHasAPoint basically had a point about royals and Overlords in Hell]]. Nearly every time we see imps outside of I.M.P they are servants or waitstaff and they are frequently treated as the lowest on the totem pole of Hell with one demon calling Blitzo what was implied to be [[FantasticRacism a slur]]. Striker's assessment of Blitzo's relationship with Stolas is also dead-on: he is [[SexForServices forced to sleep with Stolas in order to keep his business going]], Stolas has treated him like a plaything and when kidnapped by Striker in a later episode, Stolas immediately mocks Striker for being poor and makes sexual comments about Blitzo, effectively proving Striker's point about him and his attitudes towards imps. Striker's [[WeCanRuleTogether recruitment speech to Blitzo on his initial appearance]] was effective because of how much truth there was in it.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'':
** Stella is written as a screeching harpy of a HateSink, but it's established she didn't want to be married to Stolas any more than he wanted to be to her, his affair with Blitzo potentially ruined her reputation (which could be all she really has of her own - she has a brother, so she's probably not the heir to the money on her side), and she's not even allowed by the writers to be seen interacting with her own daughter.
** In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E5UnhappyCampers Unhappy Campers]]", While Moxxie can be viewed as a {{Woobie}} in this episode, his constant [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], narcissism, and jealousy make it clear he's mostly meant to be viewed in the wrong. However, some fans actually ended up sympathizing with Moxxie ''a lot'' more than Millie's pleas of finally feeling appreciated beyond being an assassin. This likely stemmed from how Moxxie's insecurities, backstory, and ButtMonkey status have been shown and explored fully in previous episodes, while Millie's own insecurities were only really ''hinted'' at with miniscule foreshadowing, making some viewers think that it [[AssPull came out of nowhere]] and in turn not be as sympathetic for her. Others simply felt Moxxie's [[JerkassBall negative]] [[IdiotBall qualities]] were purposely amped up to eleven for the sake of the plot and that Moxxie (especially in season one) would not had behaved this way. Furthermore, it did not help in the slightest that Moxxie was [[HumiliationConga put through the wringer moreso than usual]], coming off more mean-spirited rather it being karma for his behavior.

Not to be confused with RootingForTheEmpire, which is about liking characters ''in spite of'' the fact that they're explicitly bad guys, although they can overlap.

* In ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'', the General Assistance Department's boss Sir Gregory is a BadBoss to the core, being a mean and unnecessarily cruel as well as occasionally violent towards his underlings. However the General Assistance Department is also the most incompetent office in the whole Whitehall, so his anger is often more than justified.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E5UnhappyCampers Unhappy Campers]]", While Moxxie can be viewed as a {{Woobie}} in this episode, his constant [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], narcissism, and jealousy make it clear he's mostly meant to be viewed in the wrong. However, some fans actually ended up sympathizing with Moxxie ''a lot'' more than Millie's pleas of finally feeling appreciated beyond being an assassin. This likely stemmed from how Moxxie's insecurities, backstory, and ButtMonkey status have been shown and explored fully in previous episodes, while Millie's own insecurities were only really ''hinted'' at with miniscule foreshadowing, making some viewers think that it [[AssPull came out of nowhere]] and in turn not be as sympathetic for her. Others simply felt Moxxie's [[JerkassBall negative]] [[IdiotBall qualities]] were purposely amped up to eleven for the sake of the plot and that Moxxie (especially in season one) would not had behaved this way. Furthermore, it did not help in the slightest that Moxxie was [[HumiliationConga put through the wringer moreso than usual]], coming off more mean-spirited rather it being karma for his behavior.

* Website/GoAnimate:

* Rayek in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' comes off as this in the first book. Yeah, he's an arrogant JerkAss, but Cutter won the trial of wits by openly cheating, and the judge let him skate on a flimsy technicality based on the fact that he ''didn't know any better''. Nothing breeds sympathy like watching a competitor being unfairly mocked because he had the audacity to follow the rules while his opponent was ruled the winner for being ignorant.

* Writers have a habit of painting anyone who reacts negatively to ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk's destructive temper as being in the wrong. [[GeneralRipper Thaddeus Ross]] is the most frequent victim of this but even other superheroes aren't immune:

* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. The story portrays Diana killing Maxwell Lord as cold-blooded murder. However, this ignores that Max had taken control of Franchise/{{Superman}} and was trying to use him to start a war between humans and metahumans by having him kill thousands of innocent people. Diana herself had begged Max to cease his villainous actions, had used the Lasso of Truth to determine that the only way to stop Max was by killing and was doubtful she could survive if she continued to fight Superman; Diana killing Max was less her committing cold-blooded murder and more her being backed into a corner and taking the best option available to her. This wasn't even the first time Diana had killed a villain before but it was the first time she [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman killed one who looked human]]... [[FantasticRacism which doesn't paint the people angry at her in a good light]]. Not helping things was the fact that on the verge of defeating [[AIIsACrapshoot Brother Eye]], the rogue satellite projected footage of the death scene worldwide in an attempt to [[TakingYouWithMe drag her reputation down with itself]]. Some of the heroes that still took her side, like Superman and Franchise/{{Batman}}, were upset for a different reason, regardless of how bad a man is, [[ThouShaltNotKill heroes don't kill, period]]. Ultimately, the incident causes Wonder Woman to turn right around and convince Batman to spare Alexander Luthor Jr. when the villain puts ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} in a coma in what was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally intended to be the hero's death scene]].
* Marvel spent a lot of effort to destroy ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}'s legacy as a hero during their push of ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as essentially a replacement for ''Franchise/XMen'', which all came to a head during the infamous Terrigen Mists storyline. Essentially, the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists got released into Earth's atmosphere, creating two large clouds that floated around the Earth. Terrigen Mists caused two things to happen. Firstly, they unlock superpowers in any human that has the Inhuman gene, making the Mists important (and even holy) to the Inhumans as a whole. Secondly, they cause infertility and eventually death in anyone who has the mutant X-gene. Over the course of several months, many mutants died from the Mist. Cyclops, in an attempt to save the rest of mutantkind, led a mission which ultimately destroyed one of the clouds. In retaliation, Black Bolt and Medusa killed him on the spot. Then somehow, society as a whole came to see Cyclops as a monster for this act, with one character explicitly comparing him to Hitler for destroying the cloud. That's right; the character ''opposed'' to gassing innocents to death is compared to Hitler. And it's clear that the audience is supposed to agree, even though the Mists were killing Mutants while the Inhumans didn't really care at all. And to top it off, the Inhumans don't ''need'' the Mists to survive. They can live their whole life without ever being exposed, they simply don't develop any powers.
** The worst part is that Cyclops didn't even do these supposedly-terrible acts; he'd actually died from Terrigen poisoning early on, and the "Cyclops" seen afterwards was secretly just a mental projection by Emma Frost. Even after this revelation becomes public knowledge, other characters still talk badly about Cyclops.
* The narrative of ''Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal'' was specifically trying to make sure Roy Harper was JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope following the loss of his arm by Prometheus and his daughter being violently crushed to death in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'', with him verbally lashing out at his loved ones when they try to help before he relapses into his heroin addiction and becomes a violent antihero. Roy fans are still arguing about how sympathetic he comes off in this story due to criticisms over how his friends handled his situation (such as allowing him to be kept on a heavy amount of pain medication while he was comatose despite knowing his history, which coupled with the infection in his arm, led to him waking up already hallucinating and emotionally unstable on top of his grief). The scene in the second issue where he attacks Mia Dearden at Lian's funeral was ''meant'' to show him being unreasonable and horrible as he drives Mia to tears, blaming her for leaving Lian alone when she did. It instead comes across as a grieving father enraged that the person culpable in his child's death chose his daughter's funeral, of all places, to vainly attempt to beg his forgiveness for what happened. The fact that everyone else sides with Mia instead of asking why in God's name she genuinely thought this was a good time to approach Roy to apologize for her actions makes his anger at her and them a lot more understandable (even if his insult at Donna Troy about how ''her'' son died because "she was whoring in space with Kyle Rayner" is indeed harsh).

* There is a very old comic story starring ComicBook/TheSpectre back when he was just a normal superhero and not the personification of the wrath of God, which opens with [[DecoyProtagonist a scientist]] who receives telepathic messages telling him to build a rocket and follow the source. He does, only to be tricked into freeing the villain, and is rewarded by [[AndIMustScream being immobilized forever by the ray which had trapped the villain]]. And [[OffscreenInertia he isn't freed at the end]], since the villain never tells anyone how he escaped. The scientist asks for a reward immediately after freeing him, so he’s ''meant'' to come across as an AssholeVictim who only helps people for selfish reasons. However, we see so little of his personality and his punishment is so disproportionate to his vice that readers just feel sorry for [[VictimizedBystander the guy]].
* Terra from the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheJudasContract'' is referred to repeatedly as an insane, unrepentant monster who has no one to blame but herself for her behavior. It's hard to believe this one-sided characterization for her. There are several signs towards {{Freudian Excuse}}s for her. She had a bad home life, was ran out of her home country, and ultimately met Deathstroke. Their sexual relationship is supposed to make ''Terra'' seem [[SlutShaming gross]], however instead many view Deathstroke (who is at least thirty years older than her and an adult) as grooming and manipulating the vulnerable teenager. Not helping is that Beast Boy, the teammate most romantically interested in her, was very much an immature womanizer towards her [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality yet received no consequence for it]]. Terra being unintentionally sympathetic is a large reason why DC {{retcon}}ned her later on, with a [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTheJudasContract movie]] and several [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003 later]] [[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010 cartoons]] applying outright AdaptationalHeroism to make her sympathy more intentional (often with a dose of AdaptationalVillainy for Deathstroke's manipulative nature), complete with her making a HeelFaceTurn, though the former two works make use of RedemptionEqualsDeath (outright in the film and [[NeverSayDie depicted as]] [[TakenForGranite petrification]] in the ''Teen Titans'' cartoon), and the latter cartoon had her survive but [[spoiler:her brother Geo-Force replaces her in the villains' schemes]]. A 2000s issue implies that Deathstroke drugged her into being how she was, which was demonstrated to also have happened to [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]], while ''Rebirth'' depicts Deathstroke seducing Terra as a MoralEventHorizon.
* The author of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was genuinely surprised to find out that everyone loved Rorschach. This is despite the fact that he wrote the character as a paranoid nutcase and exactly the opposite to Creator/AlanMoore politically. The most likely explanation is that, 1) even though Rorschach's methods are excessive, [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing they're still cool to watch]], 2) Walter Kovacs is [[FreudianExcuse very clearly traumatized]], and 3) most of the people he fights [[BlackAndGrayMorality are even worse than he is]].[[note]]Key word being ''most''-- the cops who apprehend him are just doing their jobs.[[/note]]

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While it's pretty easy to feel uncomfortable at Wondy having any of her villains locked in a [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul Venus Girdle]], Byrna Brilyant (Snowman/Blue Snowman) really gets the short end of the stick. Her initial crime is attacking and holding an entire community for ransom using "blue snow" which does not actually ''harm'' any of her victims physically. She's then taken, without trial, to Reformation Island and locked in a Venus Girdle indefinitely alongside serial killers and horrific war criminals. She never falls completely under the Girdle's mind controlling sway so while she has no choice but to follow every order given to her and can tell the thing is forcing her to act happy about it she's horrified and doing everything she can to escape. When she joins Villainy Inc. with new armor she secretly made while imprisoned her anger feels extremely justified.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E5UnhappyCampers Unhappy Campers]]", Moxxie's persistent [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], narcissism, and jealousy throughout the episode make it clear he's mostly meant to be viewed in the wrong, with him finally coming around to support his wife the same way she has always supported him by the end. However, some fans actually ended up sympathizing with Moxxie ''a lot'' more than Millie, viewing Moxxie's behavior as understandable due to his insecurities and ButtMonkey status being greatly explored at this point, while seeing the reveal that Millie her own deep-seated insecurities regarding feeling unappreciated outside her assassin skillset as a trait that [[AssPull came out of nowhere]] with little-to-no foreshadowing.

* Franchise/WonderWoman in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. The story portrays Diana killing Maxwell Lord as cold-blooded murder. However, this ignores that Max had taken control of Franchise/{{Superman}} and was trying to use him to start a war between humans and metahumans by having him kill thousands of innocent people. Diana herself had begged Max to cease his villainous actions, had used the Lasso of Truth to determine that the only way to stop Max was by killing and was doubtful she could survive if she continued to fight Superman. Diana killing Max was less her committing cold-blooded murder and more her being backed into a corner and taking the best option available to her. It's not helped that this was not the first time Diana had killed a villain before but it was the first time she [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman killed one who looked human]]... [[FantasticRacism which doesn't paint the people angry at her in a good light]]. Not helping things was the fact that on the verge of defeating [[AIIsACrapshoot Brother Eye]], the rogue satellite projected footage of the death scene worldwide in an attempt to [[TakingYouWithMe drag her reputation down with itself]]. Some of the heroes that still took her side, like Superman and Franchise/{{Batman}}, were upset for a different reason, regardless of how bad a man is, [[ThouShaltNotKill heroes don't kill, period]]. Ultimately, the incident causes Wonder Woman to turn right around and convince Batman to spare Alexander Luthor Jr. when the villain puts ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} in a coma in what was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally intended to be the hero's death scene]].
* Marvel spent a lot of effort to destroy ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}'s legacy as a hero during their push of ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as essentially a replacement for ''Franchise/XMen'', which all came to a head during the infamous Terrigen Mists storyline. Essentially, the Inhumans' Terrigen Mists got released into Earth's atmosphere, creating two large clouds that floated around the Earth. Terrigen Mists caused two things to happen. Firstly, they unlock superpowers in any human that has the Inhuman gene, making the Mists important (and even holy) to the Inhumans as a whole. Secondly, they cause infertility and eventually death in anyone who has the mutant X-gene. Over the course of months, many many mutants died from the Mist. Cyclops, in an attempt to save the rest of mutantkind led a mission which ultimately destroyed one of the clouds. In retaliation, Black Bolt and Medusa killed him on the spot. Then somehow, society as a whole came to see Cyclops as a monster for this act, with one character explicitly comparing him to Hitler for destroying the cloud. That's right; the character ''opposed'' to gassing innocents to death is compared to Hitler. And it's clear that the audience is supposed to agree, even though the Mists were killing Mutants while the Inhumans didn't really care at all. And to top it off, the Inhumans don't ''need'' the Mists to survive. They can live their whole life without ever being exposed, they simply don't develop any powers.

* The narrative of ''Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal'' was specifically trying to make sure Roy Harper was JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope following the loss of his arm by Prometheus and his daughter being violently crushed to death in ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'', with him verbally lashing out at his loved ones when they try to help before he relapses into his heroin addiction and becomes a violent antihero. Roy fans are still arguing about how sympathetic he comes off in this story due to criticisms over how his friends handled his situation (such as allowing him to be kept on a heavy amount of pain medication while he was comatose despite knowing his history, which coupled with the infection in his arm, led to him waking up already hallucinating and emotionally unstable on top of his grief). The scene in the second issue where he attacks Mia Dearden at Lian's funeral was ''meant'' to show him being unreasonable and horrible as he drives Mia to tears blaming her for leaving Lian alone when she did. It instead comes across as a grieving father enraged that the person culpable in his child's death chose his daughter's funeral, of all places, to vainly attempt to beg his forgiveness for what happened. The fact that everyone else sides with Mia instead of asking why in God's name she genuinely thought this was a good time to approach Roy to apologize for her actions makes his anger at her and them a lot more understandable (even if his insult at Donna Troy about how ''her'' son died because "she was whoring in space with Kyle Rayner" is indeed harsh).

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While it's pretty easy to feel uncomfortable at Wondy having any of her villains locked in a [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul Venus Girdle]], Byrna Brilyant (Snowman/Blue Snowman) really gets the short end of the stick. While her initial crime is attacking and holding for ransom an entire community she does so using "blue snow" which does not actually ''harm'' any of her victims physically. She's then taken, without trial, to Reformation Island and locked in a Venus Girdle indefinitely alongside serial killers and horrific war criminals. She never falls fully under the Girdle's mind controlling sway so while she has no choice but to follow every order given to her and can tell the thing is forcing her to act happy about it she's horrified and doing everything she can to escape. When she joins Villainy Inc. with new armor she secretly made while imprisoned her anger feels extremely justified.

A case of MisaimedFandom. When a character is Unintentionally Sympathetic, it means they get a lot more sympathy from the audience than the writers were expecting. But unlike DracoInLeatherPants, this isn't a case of audience members downplaying their flaws because they think the character is sexy, cool, or funny. Rather, something about the narrative itself -- the character's motivations, their actions, the others' response to said actions, the framing of the scenario, etc. -- does the job for them. On the low end, you have characters the audience still acknowledges is in the wrong, but think the punishment they received [[DisproportionateRetribution outweighs whatever the wrongdoing was]]. On the high end, not only is the audience wholeheartedly on the side of the wrongdoer, but they've now started hating the "heroes" instead for punishing or opposing the character when said character is either harmless, not at fault for the actual problem, or completely justified in their actions. Plus they donate to charities and help out the community, so where's the part we're supposed to hate?

A case of MisaimedFandom. When a character is Unintentionally Sympathetic, it means they get a lot more sympathy from the audience than the writers were expecting. But unlike DracoInLeatherPants, this isn't a case of audience members downplaying their flaws because they think the character is [[EvilIsSexy sexy]], cool, or funny. Rather, something about the narrative itself -- the character's motivations, their actions, the others' response to said actions, the framing of the scenario, etc. -- does the job for them. On the low end, you have characters the audience still acknowledges is in the wrong, but think the punishment they received [[DisproportionateRetribution outweighs whatever the wrongdoing was]]. On the high end, not only is the audience wholeheartedly on the side of the wrongdoer, but they've now started hating the "heroes" instead for punishing or opposing the character when said character is either harmless, not at fault for the actual problem, or completely justified in their actions. Plus they donate to charities and help out the community, so where's the part we're supposed to hate?

* [[DesignatedHero The supposed hero]] is [[GoodIsNotNice kind of a dick]] or/and a {{jerkass}}.

A case of MisaimedFandom. When a character is Unintentionally Sympathetic, it means they get a lot more sympathy from the audience than the writers were expecting. But unlike DracoInLeatherPants, this isn't a case of audience members downplaying their flaws because they think the character is [[EvilIsSexy sexy]], cool, or funny. In fact, they might even dislike the character most of the time. Rather, something about the narrative itself -- the character's motivations, their actions, the others' response to said actions, the framing of the scenario, etc. -- does the job for them. On the low end, you have characters the audience still acknowledges is in the wrong, but think the punishment they received [[DisproportionateRetribution outweighs whatever the wrongdoing was]]. On the high end, not only is the audience wholeheartedly on the side of the wrongdoer, but they've now started hating the "heroes" instead for punishing or opposing the character when said character is either harmless, not at fault for the actual problem, or completely justified in their actions. Plus they donate to charities and help out the community, so where's the part we're supposed to hate?

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': While Moxxie can be viewed as a {{Woobie}} in "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E5UnhappyCampers Unhappy Campers]]", his constant [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], narcissism, and jealousy make it clear he's mostly meant to be viewed in the wrong. However, some fans actually ended up sympathizing with Moxxie ''a lot'' more than Millie's pleas of finally feeling appreciated beyond being an assassin. This likely stemmed from how Moxxie's insecurities, backstory, and ButtMonkey status have been shown and explored fully in previous episodes, while Millie's own insecurities were only really ''hinted'' at with miniscule foreshadowing, making some viewers think that it [[AssPull came out of nowhere]] and in turn not be as sympathetic towards her.

A case of MisaimedFandom. When a character is Unintentionally Sympathetic, it means they get a lot more sympathy from the audience than the writers were expecting. But unlike DracoInLeatherPants, this isn't a case of audience members downplaying an antagonist's flaws because they think the character is [[EvilIsSexy sexy]], cool, or funny. Rather, something about the narrative itself -- the character's motivations, their actions, the others' response to said actions, the framing of the scenario, etc. -- does the job for them. On the low end, you have characters the audience still acknowledges is in the wrong, but think the punishment they received [[DisproportionateRetribution outweighs whatever the wrongdoing was]]. On the high end, not only is the audience wholeheartedly on the side of the wrongdoer, but they've now started hating the "heroes" instead for punishing or opposing the character when said character is either harmless, not at fault for the actual problem, or completely justified in their actions. Plus they donate to charities and help out the community, so where's the part we're supposed to hate?

* The characters in question are {{Mooks}} or BitPartBadGuys, but [[PunchClockVillain they're not particularly evil]] or are [[JustFollowingOrders just simply doing their jobs]]. But then the so-called [[SociopathicHero "hero"]] [[MookHorrorShow slaughters them in a particularly gruesome and horrifying manner]].

* The character [[DesignatedVillain may not seem that villainous]] if you think about it, and the author may not have. Alternatively, they ''are'' villainous, but they're so bad at it that [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain you can't help but feel sorry for them]].

* In ''Theatre/RichardIII'' the VillainProtagonist is by far the most interesting character, having been reviled for his whole life for his disability and, especially if you have read/seen the prequel ''Theatre/HenryVI'' - he's arguably the OnlySaneMan in the Yorkist court. Yes, he [[TheFateOfThePrincesInTheTower murders his nephews]], his wife and arranges his brother's execution, but even if you don't know that the real UsefulNotes/RichardIII was a pretty good king, the play's version is remarkably competent compared to every other character in the play and probably would rule better than any of them.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': While Moxxie can be viewed as a {{Woobie}} in "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E5UnhappyCampers Unhappy Campers]]", his constant [[AttentionWhore attention-seeking]], narcissism, and jealousy make it clear he's mostly meant to be viewed in the wrong. However, some fans actually ended up sympathizing with Moxxie ''a lot'' more than Millie's pleas of finally feeling appreciated beyond being an assassin. This likely stemmed from how Moxxie's insecurities, backstory, and ButtMonkey status have been shown and explored fully in previous episodes, while Millie's own insecurities were only really ''hinted'' at with miniscule foreshadowing, making some viewers think that it "[[AssPull came out of nowhere]]" and in turn not be as sympathetic towards her.