History YMMV / TheNostalgiaCritic

* MisaimedMarketing: Of a sort. [[https://www.teepublic.com/stores/channel-awesome You can get]] cutesy pink Hyper t-shirts with the caption "original fangirl", which is odd as Doug compared her to ''Christian Grey'' and has complained at people for leather pantsing her.

** The Critic released an episode on his review of ''Film/ScoobyDoo''. The episode ended with [[spoiler: the Critic playing poker with Rob, 80s Dan, and The Ghost of Christmas Future]]. While this in itself is a touching moment, it becomes even more heartwarming with Doug's announcement that this was the final regular episode of the show (until it resumed in Febuary of 2013). The Critic also gets a very touching send-off in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee.

** The ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' review worked precisely because Doug is excellent at being an emotionally manipulative little bastard. The meltdown at the beginning was so convincing that some people thought at least parts of it were semi-autobiographical.

* HollywoodHomely: In the ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' review, young!Critic is supposed to look like a stereotypical teenage boy with spots and everything. Except this is Doug in a black t-shirt and for once an actual decent wig, so it comes as more he just needs a rest and those measles will go away.
** His and young!Critic's comment on pre-fame Creator/IslaFisher in the same film give off this impression as well. Okay, she doesn't look the same as she does post-fame, but it does give that impression.

** Everyone who thought that Critic was still having job issues and was getting more depressed over the course of 2012 was validated when the big ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' rant came. And after validation arrived the sad, as it was a huge TearJerker.

** Reboot!Critic is far more jerkass than woobie (ironically, given the joke that he's on the woobie page in "Why Is Loki So Hot"), but he managed to hit both in ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}''. On the one hand, as he only did the film for money it's deserved that he didn't get as much as he wanted. On the other, his disgust with being the CashCowFranchise has been made explicit since ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' and it's only fair that he has a tantrum about failing at that too. There's also the Hyper storyline in which he's MasterOfTheMixedMessage for various reasons and has been violent in his refusals, but he's been stalked, hurt, kidnapped (and got very close to StockholmSyndrome) and nobody around him is on his side even though they dislike her too.

** And the young!Critic shown in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' fits the bill even more, as he's innocent, has high hopes for the future, stores his cuddly toys proudly on his top shelf and shows traces of his older self's PapaWolf tendencies.

** Getting WebVideo/JonTron in the intro for 2014's Nostalgia-Ween to say just one line. Despite using the intro for every video that month. It could have been a CouchGag where Jon saids something different each time but nope, Jon just attacks Critic every week for reviewing ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}''. No mention was made of the fact Jon had also reviewed ''Film/TheLostWorld'' either.

** The shot of Kathleen Kennedy's door at the end of the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTheTeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' review doesn't put much effort into making the plaque of her name on the door look anything more like some text overlay on top of the door image.

* CondemnedByHistory: While online reviews have [[OlderThanTheyThink been around almost as long as the 'net itself]], the half review/half comedy skit format was [[UrExample really his own]]. In the wake of his success, others wishing to break into web entertainment and share their passionate views on some piece of pop culture used him as an archetype and soon [=YouTube=] was flooded with amateur critics over-reacting to entertainment they disliked. By the end of the decade, this style was seen as [[CondemnedByHistory hyperbolic, amateurish and even outright nasty]], and largely perpetuated by [[KnowNothingKnowItAll pseudo-intellectuals]] cramming their opinions about pop culture down others' throats, which is what the Critic eventually came to be seen as by retroactive viewers who began criticizing his lack of actual good-faith critique and relying more on reactions than jokes and whose videos' "plots" relied entirely on whether or not your agreed with his opinion. The rising trend of well-respected video essays, which phased out the "skit" part for straightforward tongue-in-cheek humor, only made it look worse.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Having kidnapped the WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick: "I am the master, and you are the subordinate."
** The Other Guy is quite appealing when he's being a smarmy BadBoss to Todd or being a "dark, shadowy puppet-master" that controls the Critic.
** At the end of the ''A Simple Wish'' review, with puberty having been decidedly kind to [[spoiler:Mara Wilson]], she joined an exclusive group of people who have terrified the Critic.
** Malcolm as the [[EvilSoundsDeep deep-voiced]], [[BadassInANiceSuit suited]] devil in ''Son Of The Mask''.
** In ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'', Tamara being psychotic and so happy about it is what makes Critic want her to work for him in the first place, and Malcolm proves he's no slouch in the uncomfortably attractive SlasherSmile department either.
** Reboot!Critic is far more this trope than his usually-powerless pre-WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee self ever was. Lampshaded by the Hyper Fangirl (the straw embodiment of his worst fangirls), who gets threatened with being stabbed and that just makes her want him more. One particular moment where he looked badass, hellish and hot all at once was in the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, when he's crouched down on the floor and his eyes crackle with electricity.
** In ''Film/SmallSoldiers'', Doug as Devil Boner, the leather-wearing, eyeliner-slathered, punk-haired, gun-toting “evil toy” only has two small scenes. He's still leather-wearing, eyeliner-slathered, punk-haired and gun-toting. He even got [[http://salvatriss.tumblr.com/post/94662844321/lady-love-embrace-and-devil-boner-from-the-new shipped]] with the woman he blew up.
*** The fact he eventually enters a very happy, slightly kinky relationship with Hyper Fangirl manages to double up on both the evil and the sexy. Some people get really interested in the canon idea of them tying up Critic together.
** Like clockwork, [[http://jadeharleyofseville.tumblr.com/post/93224666586/zhuzhka-unleash-the-cheese-when-did-film Film Brain got more fangirls]] as soon as he played evil in ''Film/ThePurge'' review.
** Evilina and Malice, despite the fact that they're meant to be teenage girls at most. Evilina mostly because even Doug perved over Rachel's bust in the ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' commentary and Malice because she held a knife to Critic, made him squeak and fangirls admit their weakness.
** As useless as he is, Doug's “Fandumb Of The Opera” got a ''really'' positive reception on tumblr, with most responding to the line “I am pure sexy and coolness” with “yeah actually you are”.
** Uncle Lies is getting a fanbase based on evil attractiveness, mostly because he's clearly Ask That Guy and a number of his fans loved him for being this trope.
** Winifred from the ''Film/HocusPocus'' review. Somehow Doug's KubrickStare talent is more appealing when he has make-up on.

** The “sweater family” for the couple consisting of an abusive, oblivious yellow-jumper-wearing father; an aged purple-jumper-wearing, coke-addicted, chain-smoking, alcoholic mother; and their poor kids. Uncle Lies often gets named Uncle ATG (or occasionally the portmanteau Uncle Ask That Lies) because the two characters have been confirmed by Doug to be the same. Or Daddy Ask That Guy by people who like to [[EvilIsSexy sin]].

* RootingForTheEmpire: For all the people irritated by how one-sided the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review was, Zod was the best thing about it; making Critic scared, linking back to the WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and mocking his crappy speech. EvilIsCool and EvilIsSexy help too.

** There were a couple of nods, but "Why Is Loki So Hot" could have been a lot more fun if it went full meta ([[http://aunt-zelda.livejournal.com/325175.html#cutid1 as both Doug and Hiddleston are attractive and charming]], and both Critic and Loki get EvilIsSexy fangirls as well as ICanChangeMyBeloved fangirls) instead of making HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday jokes and insulting women for their tastes. He made up for it quickly and efficiently in “When Did Marvel Villains Get Good” though, celebrating Loki, relating to him and encouraging the fangirls to keep their love going.

** When the ''{{Film/Transformers}} 3'' and ''Film/Jungle2Jungle'' reviews come up, more people will remember the giant hickeys on his neck than anything else.

** It was pretty obvious from the beginning that Doug Walker has basically no formal education in film or film analysis; going back to his first reviews, many of them had pretty shallow criticism, bad research, or him missing the point. It wasn't problematic in his early days because he was both [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny one of the only games in town in terms of video-based film reviews and analysis, especially considering his schedule]], and he (by nature of his format) chose films that were soft targets for criticism and not widely discussed or defended, like ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' or ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. When he started doing reviews of recent or popular films, the limitations of his style and skills as a reviewer became a lot more evident, especially with the dozens of film critique and review channels by people who actually studied film professionally or as a hobby, be they students, critics, or even filmmakers, that have popped up in the intervening years. All of this came to a head with his widely-panned review/parody of the 1982 film adaptation of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall'', which received plentiful criticism for providing only surface-level analysis of the movie, failing to demonstrate proper research (such as apparently ignoring the fact that the album predated the movie by roughly 3 years), and missing much of the point of the original album. Even in light of Walker making it clear that he himself enjoyed the album and simply thought the movie was a bit full of itself at times, his video on ''The Wall'' has been touted as a microcosm of several long-persisting issues with his content that made themselves more than apparent here. It doesn't help that the focus of the show has obviously shifted from laughing at the character's bad critiques to expecting the audience to take his word as gospel no matter what, nor does the fact that Doug apparently disregards his own criticisms whenever he feels like it.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** While online reviews have [[OlderThanTheyThink been around almost as long as the 'net itself]], the half review/half comedy skit format was [[UrExample really his own]]. In the wake of his success, others wishing to break into web entertainment and share their passionate views on some piece of pop culture used him as an archetype and soon [=YouTube=] was flooded with amateur critics over-reacting to entertainment they disliked. By the end of the decade, this style was seen as [[CondemnedByHistory hyperbolic, amateurish and even outright nasty]], and largely perpetuated by [[KnowNothingKnowItAll pseudo-intellectuals]] cramming their opinions about pop culture down others' throats, which is what the Critic eventually came to be seen as by retroactive viewers who began criticizing his lack of actual good-faith critique and relying more on reactions than jokes and whose videos' "plots" relied entirely on whether or not your agreed with his opinion. The rising trend of well-respected video essays, which phased out the "skit" part for straightforward tongue-in-cheek humor, only made it look worse.
** Disneycember. Back when it started in 2011, Doug doing multiple vlogs a day for a month was a ''huge'' thing, but a few years on it's rare for him to not have a vlog up on any given day of the year.

* StuckInTheirShadow: Beth for ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'' wrote most of the songs (all but "Texts” and “Point Of Epic Burns") and had worked on the episode with Doug for over five months. She also made both these things very clear. But when she's not being blamed "for making him do it", she's getting ignored.

* {{Memetic Moleste|r}}e: He's a bit like the fanfic fandom's designated rape victim. Not for Hurt/Comfort purposes, just for [[ForTheEvulz funsies]]. This was given a nod by WebVideo/TheLastAngryGeek's ''Future's End'' episode, where Snob is Critic's pimp and makes him have sex with anyone he (Snob) wants.
** MemeticMolester: Hyper, given her penchant for creepy faces and the fact that any man she's interested in is freaked out. Not to mention the ending of ''Film/SmallSoldiers''.

** In a variation, he made a mistake in ''Film/ThePurge'', calling the polite leader “Henry” when that was the boyfriend's name and he even showed that clip. Cue fans deciding that the polite leader ''had'' to be called Henry to let the CRF off.
** On Website/ThisVeryWiki, the page for ''{{Film/Cinderella 2015}}'' listed Ella under 'BaseBreakingCharacter' purely because Doug didn't like her portrayal - when the character was received better by 90% of the press.[[note]]Base Breaking Character refers to an overwhelming split in the opinions.[[/note]]

** The Critic video on ''The Wall'' is probably best known for the massive backlash it got immediately after its release. Be this for the shoddy production values, Doug not doing proper research into the topics from the album and movie and having bad, surface-level criticisms as a result, the video being more of a bad parody than an actual review of the film that shows the cracks of the Critic's review style that have been there for years, and having a sequence in the film that feels not so much as a dig at social media than a dig at the [=#ChangeTheChannel=] movement. So many people made videos talking about these aspects of the video, mocking it and Doug for the general incompetance of it all.