History UnintentionallyUnsympathetic / FamilyGuy

* "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS13E10QuagmiresMom Quagmire's Mom]]" gives Quagmire a sympathetic backstory to explain his deviant tendencies: His father is a celebrated war veteran who set up unrealistic expectations as to what masculinity is, while his mother is as much of a sexual deviant as he is now, skewing how he views relationships. And when Quagmire is prosecuted for sleeping with a 15-year-old girl who claimed to be an adult, he is portrayed as an innocent victim of a flawed legal system. In addition, the only two women Quagmire truly loved (Lois and Cheryl Tiegs) both left him, causing him to try and fill the void by having meaningless sex with countless women. The fact remains, however, that Quagmire is still a repulsive sexual predator who knowingly and gleefully shares his numerous sexually-transmitted diseases with the women he sleeps with (lying about wearing protection if he needs to), making him extremely unsympathetic to the audience despite how many times the show tries to give him sympathetic episodes (him trying to help his sister who's in an abusive relationship, him being tricked into marrying a prostitute, him being trapped in an abusive relationship with a "female Quagmire", etc.) In fact, "Quagmire's Mom" outright had Brian (whom Quagmire absolutely and hypocritically loathes) states he's a grown man who should own up to his behavior instead of using his mom as a scapegoat. In response, Quagmire tries to take the high road by asking why a known atheist like Brian is defending his now religious mother despite that Brian's statement had nothing to do with defending Quagmire's mother.

* "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS13E10QuagmiresMom Quagmire's Mom]]" gives Quagmire a sympathetic backstory to explain his deviant tendencies: His father is a celebrated war veteran who set up unrealistic expectations as to what masculinity is, while his mother is as much of a sexual deviant as he is now, skewing how he views relationships. And when Quagmire is prosecuted for sleeping with a 15-year-old girl who claimed to be an adult, he is portrayed as an innocent victim of a flawed legal system. In addition, the only two women Quagmire truly loved (Lois and Cheryl Tiegs) both left him, causing him to try and fill the void by having meaningless sex with countless women. However, Quagmire is still a repulsive sexual predator who knowingly and gleefully shares his numerous sexually-transmitted diseases with the women he sleeps with (lying about wearing protection if he needs to), making him extremely unsympathetic to the audience despite how many times the show tries to give him sympathetic episodes (him trying to help his sister who's in an abusive relationship, him being tricked into marrying a prostitute, him being trapped in an abusive relationship with a "female Quagmire", etc.) In fact, "Quagmire's Mom" outright had Brian (whom Quagmire absolutely and hypocritically loathes) states he's a grown man who should own up to his behavior instead of using his mom as a scapegoat. In response, Quagmire tries to take the high road by asking why a known atheist like Brian is defending his now religious mother despite that Brian's statement had nothing to do with defending Quagmire's mother.

* In general, any attempts to make the members of the Griffin family sympathetic in later episodes of the show can fall under this due to all of the heinous actions they have committed over the course of the series. Examples include trying to have a FreudianExcuse for Peter's treatment of Meg in the episode "Peter's Sister", where it is established that he has a BigSisterBully who heavily resembles Meg. Despite how awful his sister treats him, many find it impossible to sympathize with him after the things he has done throughout the series, such as throwing a heavily injured Stewie under the car to be run over. Other examples include trying to have episodes that show Brian in a sympathetic light after the episode that had him infect Chris and Stewie with Herpes for no reason at all, despite knowing Stewie is the reason he's still alive.

* In general, any attempts to make the members of the Griffin family sympathetic in later episodes of the show can fall under this due to all of the heinous actions they have committed over the course of the series. Examples include trying to have a FreudianExcuse for Peter's treatment of Meg in the episode "Peter's Sister", where it is established that he has a BigSisterBully who heavily resembles Meg. Despite how awful his sister treats him, many find it impossible to sympathize with him after the things he has done throughout the series, such as throwing a heavily injured Stewie under the car to be run over. Other examples include trying to have episodes that show Brian in a sympathetic light after the episode that had him infect Chris and Stewie with Herpes for no reason at all, despite knowing Stewie is the reason he's still alive. An argument could be made that these past actions shouldn't matter due to the show existing in NegativeContinuity and how a majority if not all of the abovementioned actions are never brought up or mentioned again.

* In general, any attempts to make the members of the Griffin family sympathetic in later episodes of the show can fall under this due to all of the heinous actions they have committed over the course of the series. Examples include trying to have a FreudianExcuse for Peter's treatment of Meg in the episode "Peter's Sister", where it is established that he has a BigSisterBully who heavily resembles Meg. Despite how awful his sister treats him, many find it impossible to sympathize with him after the things he has done throughout the series, such as throwing a heavily injured Stewie under the car to be run over. Other examples include trying to have episodes that show Brian in a sympathetic light after the episode that had him infect Chris and Stewie with Herpes for no reason at all, despite knowing Stewie is the reason he's still alive.

* In general, any attempts to make the members of the Griffin family sympathetic in recent episodes can fall under this due to all of the heinous actions they have committed over the course of the series. Examples include trying to have a FreudianExcuse for Peter's treatment of Meg in the episode "Peter's Sister", where it is established that he has a BigSisterBully who heavily resembles Meg. Despite how awful his sister treats him, many find it impossible to sympathize with him after the things he has done throughout the series, such as throwing a heavily injured Stewie under the car to be run over. Other examples include trying to have episodes that show Brian in a sympathetic light after the episode that had him infect Chris and Stewie with Herpes for no reason at all, despite knowing Stewie is the reason he's still alive.

[[WaxingLyrical It seems today that all you see]] is...characters who are difficult to root for.

** Basically, anytime that the viewer is supposed to feel sorry for Peter, they can't help but see it as well-deserved, considering how much of an abusive monster he is.

UnintentionallyUnsympathetic in this series.

* "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS18E12BriDa Bri Da]]": Quagmire becomes jealous that Brian is dating his transgender father Ida. While Brian is rather condescending towards Quagmire, he at least tries to bond with Quagmire and generally loves and cares about Ida, genuinely wanting a relationship with another woman (compare that to how most of his previous conquests were shallow, moronic bimbos who he only dated so he could lord his intelligence over them), and Quagmire forcing Ida to end the relationship after he forces her to choose between him and Brian makes him look like a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled baby]].

* "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS13E10QuagmiresMom Quagmire's Mom]]" gives Quagmire a sympathetic backstory to explain his deviant tendencies: His father is a celebrated war veteran who set up unrealistic expectations as to what masculinity is, while his mother is as much of a sexual deviant as he is now, skewing how he views relationships. And when Quagmire is prosecuted for sleeping with a 15-year-old girl who claimed to be an adult, he is portrayed as an innocent victim of a flawed legal system. In addition, the only two women Quagmire truly loved (Lois and Cheryl Tiegs) both left him, causing him to try and fill the void by having meaningless sex with countless women. However, Quagmire is still a repulsive sexual predator who knowingly and gleefully shares his numerous sexually-transmitted diseases with the women he sleeps with (lying about wearing protection if he needs to), making him extremely unsympathetic to the audience despite how many times the show tries to give him sympathetic episodes (him trying to help his sister who's in an abusive relationship, him being tricked into marrying a prostitute, him being trapped in an abusive relationship with a "female Quagmire", etc.)

* "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS13E10QuagmiresMom Quagmire's Mom]]" gives Quagmire a sympathetic backstory to explain his deviant tendencies: His father is a celebrated war veteran who set up unrealistic expectations as to what masculinity is, while his mother is as much of a sexual deviant as he is now, skewing how he views relationships. In addition, the only two women Quagmire truly loved (Lois and Cheryl Tiegs) both left him, causing him to try and fill the void by having meaningless sex with countless women. And when Quagmire is prosecuted for sleeping with a 15-year-old girl who claimed to be an adult, he is portrayed as an innocent victim of a flawed legal system. However, Quagmire is still a repulsive sexual predator who knowingly and gleefully shares his numerous sexually-transmitted diseases with the women he sleeps with (lying about wearing protection if he needs to), making him extremely unsympathetic to the audience despite how many times the show tries to give him sympathetic episodes (him trying to help his sister who's in an abusive relationship, him being tricked into marrying a prostitute, him being trapped in an abusive relationship with a "female Quagmire", etc.)

* Quagmire was given a sympathetic backstory to explain his deviant tendencies: His father is a celebrated war veteran who set up unrealistic expectations as to what masculinity is, while his mother is as much of a sexual deviant as he is now, skewing how he views relationships. In addition, the only two women Quagmire truly loved (Lois and Cheryl Tiegs) both left him, causing him to try and fill the void by having meaningless sex with countless women. However, despite this FreudianExcuse, Quagmire is still a repulsive sexual predator who knowingly and gleefully shares his numerous sexually-transmitted diseases with the women he sleeps with (lying about wearing protection if he needs to), making him extremely unsympathetic to the audience despite how many times the show tries to give him sympathetic episodes (him trying to help his sister who's in an abusive relationship, him being tricked into marrying a prostitute, him being trapped in an abusive relationship with a "female Quagmire", etc.)

* Quagmire's hatred of Brian often comes across like this. While many fans overall agree with Quagmire's opinions on Brian, most are also of the opinion that Quagmire doesn't hold any sort of moral high ground over Brian. He insists that, even though both he and Brian use women for sex, he's somehow better because [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he's honest about it]] and also rails on Brian for talking about how "homelessness is the biggest tragedy in America" but never doing anything to actually help the homeless and says that he volunteers at a soup kitchen, [[InformedAttribute something we have never once seen him do in the entire show]]. It also doesn't help that Brian has numerous times attempted to be nice to Quagmire (admittedly, he's occasionally done this with ulterior motives but nothing sinister or unreasonable) and Quagmire responds by being an obstinate dick, such as one episode where Brian took Stewie to see Santa at the mall and, upon seeing the massive line, asked Quagmire if it would be possible to get in line behind him so that he and Stewie wouldn't be there all day. Brian also referred to the child accompanying Quagmire as a "little guy" and asked what "his" name was, to which Quagmire angrily responded that the child was his [[LittlestCancerPatient cancer-stricken niece]] and that her hair was short due to the chemotherapy, and then tears into Brian for "destroying a little girl's confidence" just so that he wouldn't have to wait in line, even though Brian's mistake was completely understandable and he was just trying to be nice to a young child.

** It doesn't help either that many earlier episodes actually showed Quagmire and Brian as getting along okay. They weren't best friends by any means, but when Brian left home in ''The Man With Two Brians'', Quagmire was more than happy to let him stay at his place... so ultimately the hatred between them comes off as forced purely to create drama, except it's done so poorly that it doesn't create anything but boredom and hypocrisy

* Quagmire's hatred of Brian often comes across like this. While many fans overall agree with Quagmire's opinions on Brian, most are also of the opinion that Quagmire doesn't hold any sort of moral high ground over Brian. He insists that, even though both he and Brian use women for sex, he's somehow better because [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he's honest about it]] and also rails on Brian for talking about how "homelessness is the biggest tragedy in America" but never doing anything to actually help the homeless and says that he volunteers at a soup kitchen, [[InformedAttribute something we have never once seen him do in the entire show]]. It also doesn't help that Brian has numerous times attempted to be nice to Quagmire (admittedly, he's occasionally done this with ulterior motives but nothing sinister or unreasonable) and Quagmire responds by being an obstinate dick, such as one episode where Brian took Stewie to see Santa at the mall and, upon seeing the massive line, asked Quagmire if it would be possible to get in line behind him so that he and Stewie wouldn't be there all day. Brian also referred to the child accompanying Quagmire as a "little guy" and asked what "his" name was, to which Quagmire angrily responded that the child was his [[LittlestCancerPatient cancer-stricken niece]] and that her hair was short due to the chemotherapy, and then tears into Brian for "destroying a little girl's confidence" just so that he wouldn't have to wait in line, even though Brian's mistake was completely understandeable and he was just trying to be nice to a young child.

!!''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''

** Throughout the entirety of the show, Quagmire has treated women like objects and raped far too many of them to count. In this episode, the viewer is supposed to be touched when he tells his sister that women are "strong, vibrant and beautiful creatures", but his past actions make him look hypocritical at best and manipulative at worst, and when [[UsefulNotes/VictimBlaming he tells Brenda she doesn't deserve to be called a woman]], he only comes across as a prick.

** Joe's strong commitment to the law is showcased when he explains that he can't arrest Jeff unless Brenda files a report, as well as when he threatens to arrest Quagmire himself when the latter comes up with a plan to murder Jeff. However, Joe had personally witnessed Jeff's abuse many times and did nothing to prevent it from happening, making him look incompetent and uncaring.

* Quagmire's hatred of Brian often comes across like this. While many fans overall agree with Quagmire's opinions on Brian, most are also of the opinion that Quagmire doesn't hold any sort of moral high ground over Brian. He insists that, even though both he and Brian use women for sex, he's somehow better because [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he's honest about it]] and also rails on Brian for talking about how "homelessness is the biggest tragedy in America" but never doing anything to actually help the Homeless and says that he volunteers at a Soup Kitchen, [[InformedAttribute something we have never once seen him do in the entire show]]. It also doesn't help that Brian has numerous times attempted to be nice to Quagmire (albeit occasionally with ulterior motives but nothing sinister or unreasonable) and Quagmire responds by being an obstinant dick, such as one episode where Brian took Stewie to see Santa at the mall and, upon seeing the massive line, asked Quagmire if it would be possible to get in line behind him so that he and Stewie wouldn't be there all day. Brian also referred to the child accompanying Quagmire as a "little guy" and asked what "his" name was, to which Quagmire angrily responded that the child was his [[LittlestCancerPatient cancer-stricken niece]] and that her hair was short due to the chemotherapy, and then tears into Brian for "destroying a little girl's confidence" just so that he wouldn't have to wait in line, even though Brian's mistake was completely understandeable and he was just trying to be nice to a young child.

* Quagmire's hatred of Brian often comes across like this. while many fans overall agree with Quagmire's opinions on Brian, most are also of the opinion that Quagmire doesn't hold any sort of moral high ground over Brian. He insists that, even though both he and Brian use women for sex, he's somehow better because [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he's honest about it]] and also rails on Brian for talking about how "homelessness is the biggest tragedy in America" but never doing anything to actually help the Homeless and says that he volunteers at a Soup Kitchen, [[InformedAttribute something we have never once seen him do in the entire show]]. It also doesn't help that Brian has numerous times attempted to be nice to Quagmire (albeit occasionally with ulterior motives but nothing sinister or unreasonable) and Quagmire responds by being an obstinant dick, such as one episode where Brian took Stewie to see Santa at the mall and, upon seeing the massive line, asked Quagmire if it would be possible to get in line behind him so that he and Stewie wouldn't be there all day. Brian also referred to the child accompanying Quagmire as a "little guy" and asked what "his" name was, to which Quagmire angrily responded that the child was his [[LittlestCancerPatient cancer-stricken niece]] and that her hair was short due to the chemotherapy, and then tears into Brian for "destroying a little girl's confidence" just so that he wouldn't have to wait in line, even though Brian's mistake was completely understandeable and he was just trying to be nice to a young child.

** Throughout the entirety of the show, Quagmire has treated women like objects and raped far too many of them to count. In this episode, the viewer is supposed to be touched when he tells his sister that women are "strong, vibrant and beautiful creatures", but his past actions make him look hypocritical at best and manipulative at worst, and when he tells Brenda she doesn't deserve to be called a woman, he only comes across as a prick.

* Lois falls into this in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E9AndImJoyceKinney And I'm Joyce Kinney]]". While the titular character is the main antagonist of the episode, many fans do not see Lois in the sympathetic light she was intended to be portrayed in, due to her behavior in post-cancellation seasons. Had this occurred in earlier seasons when Lois was more likable, Lois probably would have been more sympathetic. The schoolgirl prank Lois pulled on Joyce when they were younger also caused her to get comparisons to the mean girls in Literature/Carrie.

* Lois falls into this in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E9AndImJoyceKinney And I'm Joyce Kinney]]". While the titular character is the main antagonist of the episode, many fans do not see Lois in the sympathetic light she was intended to be portrayed in, due to her behavior in post-cancellation seasons. Had this occurred in earlier seasons when Lois was more likable, Lois probably would have been more sympathetic.