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| 3 | %% NOTE: Please put examples in ABC order at all times to cause less confusion. |
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| 6 | %% |
| 7 | %%Only applies to fandom trends, not specific fanworks, whitewashing them per https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1625847866040101800&page=9#comment-205 |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | !!The following have their own pages: |
| 12 | [[index]] |
| 13 | * ''DracoInLeatherPants/DragonBall'' |
| 14 | * ''DracoInLeatherPants/{{Gundam}}'' |
| 15 | * ''DracoInLeatherPants/MyHeroAcademia'' |
| 16 | * ''DracoInLeatherPants/{{Pokemon}}'' |
| 17 | * ''DracoInLeatherPants/{{Naruto}}'' |
| 18 | [[/index]] |
| 19 | !!Other examples: |
| 20 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:''Bleach'']] |
| 23 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': |
| 24 | ** Byakuya Kuchiki is nowhere near the lovable angel the fandom portrays him as. He was willing to allow his sister to die all because "obeying the rules" is more important and nearly kills Ichigo twice. He ignored her repeatedly and made no attempts at helping her or stopping Renji from threatening her or beating her up. Granted, he did [[TookALevelInKindness loosen up quite a bit afterwards,]] and a lot can be attributed to severe ValuesDissonance between the West and Japan. |
| 25 | ** There are a disturbing number of legions of die-hard Szayel Aporro Granz fans, some of whom justify his hideous sadism with {{Fanon}} that he was the abused Arrancar, and more who found his demise [[spoiler: at the hands of fellow MadScientist Mayuri Kurotsuchi]] horribly unfair rather than [[spoiler:[[KarmicDeath fitting.]]]] And look at his pink hair! (There are fans who ''do'' like Szayel [[LoveToHate BECAUSE he's an asshole,]] but these are few and far in between.) |
| 26 | ** Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a minor case of this. In the Soul Society Arc, he talked about all of the humans he's dissected, killed three subordinates, and abused his daughter. However, in all of his later appearances his actions were dialed down. He fits this trope only slightly, as even his fans don't try to gloss over his Soul Society arc actions. |
| 27 | ** Kenpachi Zaraki is a huge one. His stated purpose in life is to fight. He didn't fight seriously against Nnoitra, putting the mission and Ichigo and Orihime at risk. Despite not caring about anything besides having a good fight, his fans treat him as more noble than he actually is. |
| 28 | ** Sosuke Aizen. He's supposed to be a MagnificentBastard, but many of his actions are ''monstrous''. And yet, many of his fans cheer for him mindlessly ''and bash his victims''. Not even his [[spoiler:using his former lieutenant, whom he ''already'' broke once, as a human shield with his powers and tricking the guy who swore to protect her into almost fatally injuring her]] dissuades them. Because he's sometimes said he holds back from killing people (he prefers manipulating others into doing that for him or he likes to have his enemies watch his victories over them), his fans tend to use that to back up their claims that he's NotEvilJustMisunderstood. |
| 29 | ** A large part of the fanbase seemed to think Gin was a double agent of sorts. This turned out not to be ''quite'' true, however, it was revealed that he did have a non-evil reason to stick by Aizen ([[spoiler:namely, to kill him in revenge for what his men had done to Matsumoto - something that she either didn't even seem to remember, or had worked to get over]]). A large part of the Bleach fandom promptly declared him a good guy, forgetting the fact that whatever his motivation Gin ''is'' [[spoiler:(or rather was)]] the show's most overt, unrepentant sociopath, who probably had a more self-centered perception on Rangiku and what to do for her anyways, given that he didn't know or care about her choices in the matter (and her answer to that, given her angst over him, would probably be a flat-out "no".) So he's basically tied with the previously-mentioned Szayel "Tentacle Rape" Aporro Granz and Mayuri, the one-squad freakshow. Creator/TiteKubo himself expresses surprise at the number of fangirls Gin gained, as he was [[SpringtimeForHitler designed to be]] creepy and off-putting. |
| 30 | ** Ladies and gentlemen: Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. He tries to kill Rukia, tries to kill Ichigo ''three times'', gets Orihime in a NeckLift when she objects to him, callously threatened the [[WouldHurtAChild much younger]] Nel, killed his comrade just to regain the rank of Espada (though [[AssholeVictim he deserved it]]), and didn't give a damn when his subordinates were killed in battle. Even after returning after a long absence and joining the good guys, he makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he's only doing so to further his own goals (namely, to have a final battle with Ichigo) and out of PragmaticVillainy. Despite all this, and even though he never expressed regret for any of these actions, part of the fanbase views him as already redeemed rather than a NominalHero. [[MrFanservice Because he's sexy]]. |
| 31 | ** Ulquiorra Cifer. It may be a big point of contention between certain parts of the fandom over whether every single interaction he has with Orihime is his psychologically torturing her, or if he genuinely tries to understand her POV or make her understand his own. Nevertheless, he had a major part in helping Yammy kill several members of Tatsuki's dojo, kidnapping and mentally torturing Orihime, helping kill Ichigo ''twice'' (and during one of these times, [[BreakTheCutie he totally broke what was left of Orihime's mind]]), and cut off Ishida's arm ([[{{Bowdlerise}} or,]] in the anime, broke and burned it). Some of his fans give him a free pass on all of this. It's made worse when these same fans turn the Ulquiorra/Orihime pairing, which is the poster-pairing for MindGameShip due to their twisted and psychologically-driven interactions, into fluffy true love, often followed about how "perfect" and "feminist" Ulquiorra is as a love interest '''to the young woman whom he abused, mocked, threatened and ultimately drove to a screaming HeroicBSOD'''. |
| 32 | ** Another target of the DILP fangirls is [[ManipulativeBastard Shukuro]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Tsukishima.]] Yes, the guy who [[spoiler:brainwashed almost everyone in Ichigo's circle of friends and family to make sure poor Ichigo would have a breakdown]]. He's called "Shuu-chan" by some fans, who also question and bash [[spoiler:'''Ichigo''']] for being almost at the verge of the DespairEventHorizon and [[spoiler:openly willing to kill him for the sake of those he loves, and whom Tsukishima is holding hostage.]] He didn't turn out to be a ''total'' bastard, what with his UndyingLoyalty to [[spoiler:Ginjou ([[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe the man who saved him]])]], but '''sheeeeesh'''. |
| 33 | ** Ginjou himself. He has a large number of fans who are willing to overlook the fact [[spoiler:he masterminded the entire Fullbring arc and all the pain Ichigo, his friends and family were put through]] because they feel his complaint against Soul Society justifies manipulating, lying, brainwashing, mind screwing and maiming innocents [[spoiler:just to steal some kid's powers for his own use. In this reasoning, Tsukishima did all the dirty work so he's the real villain and, since the brainwashing was reversible, there was no harm done so Ichigo clearly completely overreacted. As a result, not only is Ginjou viewed as the innocent victim, Ichigo's viewed as the villain for killing him rather than agreeing and siding with him.]] |
| 34 | ** The Vandereich seem to have started to gain fans like this due to EvilIsCool and EvilIsHammy factors, [[spoiler:and how they have managed to constantly out-gambit Soul Society - '''even in their own territories'''.]] Doesn't help that Soul Society's become ''un''sympathetic to some due to housing a couple of Dracos themselves as well as their own stupidity. |
| 35 | [[/folder]] |
| 36 | |
| 37 | [[folder:''Code Geass'']] |
| 38 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'' |
| 39 | ** Prince Schneizel el Britannia [[EvilMentor subjects two emotionally-unstable young girls]] ([[spoiler:Nina and Nunnally]]) to MoreThanMindControl to [[BatmanGambit use]] [[UnwittingPawn them]] [[ManipulativeBastard in his agenda]], is the major cause of [[spoiler:Lelouch's expulsion from the Black Knights]], and becomes a borderline OmnicidalManiac with a God complex. His ''victims'' are bashed by the fandom (especially Nina, but she was TheScrappy for most of R2 anyway) and ''he'' gets off scot free. Take that as you will. He does get to be a good person in ''[[Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally Nightmare of Nunnally]]'', but that's an AlternateUniverse. |
| 40 | ** A less frequently noted example would be Cornelia li Britannia, who is all too happy to enforce Britannia's MO of Social Darwinism, preferably with an excessive (if not outright sadistic) amount of violence. She'll slaughter entire ghettos just to recreate the conditions in which Zero first appeared (to challenge his ego, and it did work), gladly sacrifice hostages rather than negotiate with terrorists (unless her [[MoralityPet beloved little sister Euphemia]] is among them, in which case she'll at least try a rescue attempt), and even chews out said sister for desiring to stand up to the rule of discrimination against Numbers by selecting Eleven Suzaku Kururugi as her personal Knight. Being a DarkActionGirl, having nice threads, and [[MoralityPet caring for her sister]] seems to deflect a lot of the bad publicity this would otherwise garner. She isn't the super cool idol her fans claim that she is. Her development in R2 did her no favors, as while she softened up due to her circumstances, she wasn't anywhere the innocent woobie her fans painted her out to be, especially given her absence of repentance for her earlier crimes, and considered her happy ending deserved, even though it was a matter of getting off incredibly easy. |
| 41 | ** Lord Guilford, skirts the line here. In contrast to the dark heroes, namely Zero, that will take drastic measures for the greater good, he takes up the cause of chivalry... in defense of the empire. Unfortunately, part of the fanbase mistakes this sense of honor for [[KnightInShiningArmor good]]. While he is one of the more reasonable Britannian knights, he chided Suzaku for ceasing a would-be massacre at the second SAZ just because the Japanese would dare insult Britannia by donning the mask of Zero! |
| 42 | ** Lelouch Lamperouge/vi Britannia likewise commits some ''chilling'' atrocities in the name of his cause, whether it's because of rage or as a part of his plans. But many fans seem to completely forget and/or cheerfully hand wave that he's a ByronicHero who is ''supposed'' to cause lots of pain to others and himself because of his actions, painting him as some sort of perfect, angelic victim who never ever did anything wrong in the series, despite having kicked more than a few puppies along the way. For them, NOTHING that happens to "Lulu Baby" is either his fault or responsibility in their view - and how ''dare'' you point that out. Many, ''many'' sane Lelouch fans are very embarrassed by [[FanNickname the Luluturds']] claims, and even much of the fanbase who considers him a CosmicPlaything wouldn't go '''that''' far. |
| 43 | ** Suzaku Kururugi is let off the hook by fans for supposedly having his heart within the right place in his methods, even though [[TheQuisling he becomes less interested in his claim of changing Britannia from within the minute he becomes a Knight of Rounds and begins conquering EU territories in hopes of currying favor with Emperor Charles]], [[KnightTemplar only jumping off track to pursue Zero and find out if he really is Lelouch once again]]. In fact, given the show's ubiquitous moral ambiguity, nearly ''every'' character who isn't TheScrappy suffers from this. (Characters such as the aforementioned Lelouch and Suzaku have been concurrently DILP and TheScrappy / RonTheDeathEater at times, depending on the fanbase and circumstances.) Even Kallen, even though admittedly one of the most tradionally good characters in the series, can have her own flaws ignored completely by her fans ''even when she herself notes them''. |
| 44 | ** Jeremiah Gottwald started out as this. After getting OutGambitted ''hard'' by Lelouch, he goes through such a soul-crushing HumiliationConga that the fans ended up feeling sorry for him. It's easy to forget that this guy was introduced gleefully taking part in a massacre, then tried to frame Suzaku for murder out of racism (in Jeremiah's defense, he ''did'' really think Suzaku was guilty.) This trope isn't always a bad thing, though, because it resulted in his entire storyline being re-written and becoming [[TookALevelInBadass so much more...]] |
| 45 | ** Mao. Fans lust after him or adore his pairing with C.C., and there are some who actually ''gloss over'' his [[MindRape treatment]] of [[NaiveEveryGirl Shirley]], just because [[TheScrappy they hate Shirley.]] It doesn't help that he's WhiteHairBlackHeart type who has a ''genuinely'' well-done and well presented FreudianExcuse, so he's very easy to see as TheWoobie. |
| 46 | ** In a rather interesting twist, Mao gives C.C. the Draco in Leather Pants treatment ''in-universe''. It's hinted in the anime, and discussed explicitly in [[AllThereInTheManual the supplementary reading]], that his StartOfDarkness basically first happened because he didn't want C.C. to be "tainted" by "bad people," and that he generally saw her as some perfect, angelic lady, rather than the [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bitch]] BrokenBird she was (who, you know, [[BlessedWithSuck blessed him with suck upon suck]] when he was ''a little boy under the age of eight!''). Ultimately she does [[CharacterDevelopment snap out of it and become more considerate]], but not until after Mao is ''dead''! |
| 47 | ** Rolo qualifies among a small miniority. When there are fans who cheer him on for [[spoiler:[[KillTheCutie murdering Shirley]] [[TheScrappy because they hate her]]]] instead of viewing him as the [[TroubledButCute throughly broken]] {{Yandere}} {{Tykebomb}} he is, you know there's something wrong. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:''Death Note'']] |
| 51 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'': |
| 52 | ** Although the anime itself emphasizes that we should not support him, Light Yagami gets a lot of this, generally from young men. While he does have some complexity, he has hordes of fans both in-universe and out who think that he's a misunderstood visionary, or a good guy underneath it all. It just ain't so. The boy is a GloryHound and a {{narcissist}}ic {{jerkass}} who casually kills people [[VigilanteMan for the sake of justice]], but some people like him nevertheless, possibly because of the extent to which he has charisma and enjoys being who he is. If you consult some forums about the series, some even consider him a role model. Anyway, who could blame them? Light has style, is handsome, likes to walk impeccably neat, is perfect athlete, perfect student, a ChickMagnet, is loved by everyone around him, and certainly fits the ideal man that many young men want to be. On the other hand, this is ignoring the fact that Light is [[PsychopathicManchild incredibly childish]] and [[HairTriggerTemper irrational with things related to his ego]]. In other words, much of his appeal comes from his morally questionable sense of justice and the character itself, possibly coming from people who feel identified. |
| 53 | ** Misa Amane has also a following of devoted fanboys who seem to think that [[{{Moe}} adorableness]] and [[MsFanservice sexiness]] somehow excuses near-indiscriminate mass-murder. |
| 54 | ** Mello gets more than his fair share of fangirls, seeing as he's an incredibly diabolical crime lord... and he's the only one of the characters who actually wears form-fitting leather. |
| 55 | ** Mikami ''also'' gets this due to his [[UsedToBeASweetKid sympathetic backstory]], in which he tried to protect his classmates from bullies even when he got beaten up and no one else would support him. This treatment ignores the fact that he's one of the most blatantly insane characters in the series, believing that "God" killed the people he wanted dead ''long before he or Light got Death Notes''. |
| 56 | ** Despite [[BrokenBase arguably]] not being actually villainous, L fits this trope to a much larger extent than some of his fans are willing to admit. While he isn't a vicious murderer like the competition, he's not above endangering the lives of both convicts (like [[spoiler: Lind L. Tailor]]) and innocents (like [[spoiler: Hideki Ryuga]]) in his numerous attempts to provoke Kira. L is also perfectly willing to let the deaths of criminals and businessmen alike to continue during the investigation of [[spoiler: Yotsuba]], and orders the [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] of [[spoiler: Misa Amane]]. Some support L over Kira (and even believe L can do no wrong, in classic DILP fashion) simply because they find L sexier, or they find his mannerisms to be cute. |
| 57 | ** Beyond Birthday, that AxCrazy SerialKiller from ''Another Note''. Most fans try and forget his very gruesome murders and turn him into a fuck-toy for L. Too many fics have been written where Beyond is portrayed as very out of character. |
| 58 | ** Matt, although he's only a [[HeroAntagonist bad guy]] in that he's working with Mello against Kira. |
| 59 | [[/folder]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[folder:Other Examples]] |
| 62 | * ''Manga/AkameGaKill'': Esdeath is a sociopathic, brutal, and sadistic SocialDarwinist who simply has no comprehension or empathy with those whom she considers "weak" and whose hobbies include ColdBloodedTorture. Moreover, she is one of the root causes of the Empire's corruption, supporting the evil Prime Minister simply because his atrocious reign causes endless rebellions which provide her with endless opportunities for slaughter and bloodshed, and thus she shares responsibility for the majority of bad things that happen in the series. At one point the protagonist Tatsumi tries and fails to convince her to see his way due to just how twisted she is. Yet because of her lovable moments with that same protagonist, as well as multiple PetTheDog moments and a somewhat BenevolentBoss tendency towards her subordinates, some fans still want her to be redeemed. |
| 63 | * ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': |
| 64 | ** [[spoiler: Annie]]. It's complicated since it's still too early in the story to judge whether they're actually villainous, and the other [[spoiler: Titan Shifters]] also have this to some degree, but some of her more rabid fans are trying to paint her as a poor and hapless victim just trying to defend herself against unwarranted attacks even though she's been shown to have a sadistic streak not seen in the others. RonTheDeathEater also applies to them, to an extent. |
| 65 | ** Arguably, Levi. He shows little remorse after beating a boy half his age into a bloody pulp (though this is quickly shown to be tactical choice "for the greater good,") and later [[spoiler: fiercely harasses and manhandles a teenage girl even shorter than himself, who had recently revealed to the cast a past filled with abuse and manipulation, in order to frighten her into agreeing to take actions she wasn't comfortable with.]] Some fans use Levi's DarkAndTroubledPast, along with his occasional displays of sympathy, to excuse his behaviour and portray him as a misunderstood vigilante. He isn't necessarily a monstrous person, but he's a hell of a lot nastier than he's often shown to be. |
| 66 | ** Eren. It's common for Eren's more loyal fans to downplay how catastrophic his actions Post TimeSkip actually are. Not too far into the actual TimeSkip, he's already committed a mass murder [[spoiler: on Marley]], not just a mass murder that involved killing innocents & young children; But a mass murder that even his friends question him for. It's made worse by the fact that this attack also resulted [[spoiler: In the death of one of his long friends, which is even said by one of the characters would've never happened had he not involved the survey corps in his plan in the first place, doesn't help he then laughs at finding the news that they had died.]] He's also often portrayed as a hero by some fans for his true intentions behind [[spoiler: Unleashing every one of the Wall Titans to kill every human outside of Paradis Island being to inspire his friends to kill him to unite the nations.]] Even though to execute his MoralEventHorizon he had to commit even more questionable decisions, including [[spoiler: Sparking a insurrection in the Paradis government,]] [[spoiler: telling his close friend Mikasa that she's "nothing more than a slave" and that he's always hated her (later revealed to be a BreakHerHeartToSaveHer) all before beating his other close friend Armin to a bloody pulp,]] [[spoiler: Influncing his own father to kill a entire family (including young children)]] [[spoiler: And implied having a hand on his own mother's death.]] Though the more rapid of his fans will feel he's justified in these actions as he was just "moving forward to complete his goal", The plot very much condemns him for these actions, [[spoiler: not to mention even Eren himself knows these actions are horrifying, and come to terms that there's no redemption for these actions in the series finale.]] |
| 67 | * In the ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' fandom, there exists a splinter group of fans who put the resident ManipulativeBastard Griffith, who also doubles as a BitchInSheepsClothing, in a crotchless pair of leather pants. Might have been expected due to his [[DepravedBisexual unclear sexual orientation]], flowing {{white hair|BlackHeart}} and being rather [[{{Bishonen}} effeminate-looking]] but the extent to which his most questionable acts and his really revolting MoralEventHorizon crossing are rationalized can get...weird to say the least. Also, many Griffith fans conveniently disregard the fact that Griffith and [[spoiler:Femto]] are one and the same to further justify their infatuation. This ignores the fact that Griffith was a {{yandere}} even before the Eclipse and that his motivation for his MoralEventHorizon and condemming his friends to an eternity in hell was because ''[[EvilIsPetty they saved his life]]''. |
| 68 | * ''Manga/BlackButler'': |
| 69 | ** His [[AffablyEvil urbanity, manners, and good looks]] cause many people to overlook the fact that Sebastian Michaelis is an utterly amoral (if not outright ''evil'') and incredibly predatory demon implied to have caused to Black Plague. |
| 70 | ** Some fans also overlook the fact that [[UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper Grelle]] is a sadistic serial killer, perhaps because of her comedic traits. |
| 71 | ** Ciel is no saint, either. As the queen's watchdog, he can be fairly ruthless when carrying out his tasks, but many fans are willing to cut him some slack because he's, what? Twelve? [[spoiler: [[BreakTheCutie And was sold to a group of cultists that callously tortured and sacrificed him.]]]] |
| 72 | * Quite a few fangirls of Creed from ''Manga/BlackCat'' excuse his actions of [[StalkerWithACrush stalking Train]], murdering Train's first (and at the time only) friend Saya, trying to murder Train's other friends, and murdering countless innocents for world domination because he was [[DarkAndTroubledPast picked on when he was young]]. |
| 73 | * ''Manga/BlackLagoon''. Hansel and Gretel were supposed to be {{Jerkass Woobie}}s, having had genuinely horrific pasts rooted in {{Snuff Film}} that left their scars in their terrifyingly sociopathic behaviors. As in, they torture and kill people for fun in the worst ways ever, and end up paying with their own lives for such behaviors that [[EvenEvilHasStandards make even hardened people feel revolted]], and give the biggest and baddest badasses of Roaranopur huge reasons to want them dead. Some fans, however, take out the JerkAss out of JerkAssWoobie and bash the shit out of said people, Chang and Balalaika (and ''specially'' Chang, who doesn't hide his contempt for them), conveniently "forgetting" that the kids are nicknamed "Vampire Twins" for ''good'' reasons, and both adults aren't angry just for the lulz (Like, ''the twins have remorselessly, needlesly and cruelly killed their subordinates.'', therefore pressing Balalaika's biggest BerserkButton). Yeah, it's sad that the kids went through sheer Hell and no one is saying it's not, but considering that Chang is a deconstruction of HitmanWithAHeart and that [[spoiler:[[MamaBear Balalaika]] had the twins killed to punish them for the murder and torture of two of her men]], there ''is'' somewhat of a limit to the sympathies. |
| 74 | * ''Anime/BloodPlus''. Diva, ''holy shit''. Both fanboys ''and'' fangirls give her more sympathy than she deserves, given that while she might be an AntiVillain with a good FreudianExcuse, she is also INCREDIBLY ruthless and often needlesly cruel. [[spoiler: And a rapist/murderess who never shows any regret for raping and killing Riku.]] This is sometimes paired with the fandom [[RonTheDeathEater villainizing and bashing Saya]], and more frequently with trying to excuse away Diva's evil deeds "BECAUSE SHE HAD A TRAGIC PAST!!!111" |
| 75 | * ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' |
| 76 | ** This one is more volatile, but in the manga sequel Heppokomaru/Gasser, an ally of the eponymous character, betrays the group in order [[spoiler:to save his sister]], mostly for the sake of upping Bo-bobo in terms of power. He even tries to enhance himself with drugs in order to do so; sadly, fangirls (especially ones in the West who only get so much material of what happened) still see him as the somewhat {{Adorkable}} punk that he was. It's even worse when you realize that [[spoiler:the same sister he was trying to save]] had been willingly working for TheEmpire of the series the entire time, and is an all-powerful, borderline magical girl; she's also the sequel's source of [[LoliconAndShotacon Lolita]] fanservice (WordOfGod states her to be ten years old). Because she's [[SarcasmMode so darn cute]], though, [[spoiler:Pokomi]] is easily a female version of this trope. |
| 77 | ** Namero Yononaka, who eventually [[spoiler:becomes the BigBad]]; he's bitter and narcissistic, only caring about his own power, but...This one mostly applies to Japanese fans, though, as Namero [[AmericansHateTingle isn't very popular with his few Western fans.]] |
| 78 | * ''Manga/CaseClosed'': |
| 79 | ** The beautiful and mysterious Vermouth is easily one of the most popular characters in the franchise. Fans tend to see her as not being as evil or as bad as the others like Gin and Vodka just because she spared Ran and Shinichi, even though she wants Haibara dead, has killed people before and will continue to kill. |
| 80 | ** Gin is another example. Despite being responsible for [[spoiler: Akemi Miyano's death]], shrinking Shinichi, and being established as a cold and merciless man, Gin is very popular among the fandom and shown as a smooth, suave guy, ignoring his canon creepiness altogether. |
| 81 | * While Mei Aihara of ''Manga/{{Citrus}}'' isn't necessarily evil, she is one of the reasons as to why many are turned off from watching the show, mainly because Mei initially had the tendency to force herself onto Yuzu by kissing her. The most infamous instance of this is in the first episode where Mei pins Yuzu to the bed and kisses her whilst deliberately restraining her from escaping. Regardless, many fans have tried to explain these actions away as being the result of her upbringing, namely her distancing herself because of how people take advantage of her due to her status, or that, simply speaking, she is beautiful looking. |
| 82 | * ''Anime/CrossAnge'' has Embryo, the villain of the series. Created a world where anybody who can't use {{Mana}} is a traitor to society, kidnapped a [[FunWithAcronyms DRAGON]] to create his world, and wishes to reset the world in his first appearance. Fans however are very forgiving with him because he's got [[{{Bishounen}} good looks]], the fact that the entire discrimination was there because it was an accident and that he wishes for the best of humanity (and considering that the majority of 'humanity' here are incredibly racist, prejudiced assholes [[ItIsBeyondSaving beyond saving]], some fans might give him a pass about 'restarting the world', because even they can agree that this is a genuine mistake that Embryo wanted to fix), a friend to animals, gave several PetTheDog moments to [[IJustWantToBeSpecial Salia]], [[TeamMom Ersha]], and [[MortalityPhobia Chris]] by being there for them in their HeroicBSOD moments, would have [[TheHero Ange]] in his hands by doing her a favor and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness killing Julio]], was very appalled at the massacre of Arzenal, and is AffablyEvil in his initial appearances. Contrast to, well, several members of the cast who are more on the abrasive side, especially [[ManipulativeBastard Jill]]. [[BaitTheDog Even after this is all revealed as simply acting on Embryo's part]] and after he attempts full genocide of humanity while trying to rape or murder Ange out of spite, he still managed to retain fans, at best, they consider him someone they LoveToHate. |
| 83 | * ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': Even though [[AlienPrince Prince]] [[NobleDemon Richter]] attempted to wipe out the entire population of Earth and started a war that claimed the lives of many innocents, he is still a honorable, caring Prince to his people, the Baam-seijin, and genuinely wanted the best for them after Planet Baam[[note]]Planet Brahmin if you've watch the English dub[[/note]] was destroyed. It helps that he was [[spoiler: misled by Olban into thinking that the Earthlings were responsible for the death of his father, when his assassination was actually plotted by Olban himself. Once Richter finds out the truth, he is so ashamed of his actions that he atones by [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sacrificing his life]] to save the remaining Earthlings and Baam-seijin]]. Design-wise, Richter has a chiseled jaw, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/richter_from_daimos.png prominent muscles]], and [[LongHairedPrettyBoy long blonde hair]], and his [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raiza_from_daimos_2.png default outfit]] shows off a lot of skin. |
| 84 | * In episode 10 of ''Anime/Danganronpa3: Despair'', [[spoiler:Juzo]] covers up the BigBad's crimes because [[spoiler:she threatens to [[{{Gayngst}} out him]] if he doesn't]]. Several fangirls reacted to this by accusing all [[spoiler:Juzo]]'s critics of being [[spoiler:homophobes who ''just don't understand'' how hard coming out is]], to hell with all the murders [[spoiler:Junko]] had and would commit. |
| 85 | * ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': |
| 86 | ** Doma, thanks to his looks and cheerful personality, gets this treatment from some fans, especially when it comes to his relationship with [[spoiler: Kotoha]], where he becomes Inosuke's forefather. |
| 87 | ** Many fanworks depicting the relationship between Zenitsu and Kaigaku before his demonization often downplay, if not erase, the latter's negative qualities up to the point of {{Ukefication}}. |
| 88 | ** Muzan also gets this, thanks to his appearance. Some fans comes as far as to ship him with [[FoeYayShipping Tanjiro]]. |
| 89 | * [[MadDoctor Dr. Kazutaka Muraki]] from ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness''. He rapes Hisoka and kills him in a very slow and painful manner, tries to rape Tsuzuki repeatedly and wants to transplant his dead brother's consciousness into Tsuzuki so he can kill him. He kills, tortures, or destroys virtually everyone he meets, yet in fandom he's either loved because he's an asshole or made up to be a pitiable creature who just needs love, which in the latter case, would make him an example of this. |
| 90 | * ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'': |
| 91 | ** [[Anime/DigimonAdventure Myotismon]] is one of the most ruthless villains in the entire franchise; among other things, he has a tendency to [[BadBoss kill perfectly loyal minions]] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness just because he doesn't need them anymore,]] and he once threatened to kill an entire group of children if one of his minions wouldn't identify a specific one he was after. He also happens to be attractive, so there are several fanfics (especially from the early days of the fandom) where he's portrayed as a dark, brooding, misguided soul who sees the light either because of the Digidestined (usually Kari and/or Gatomon) or because of an original character. |
| 92 | ** Even though he turned good later on in the series, some ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' fans prefer Ken Ichijouji as the evil Digimon Emperor. This was the guy who enslaved hordes of digimon, corrupted Agumon and turned him against his friends, and frequently abused his own partner, by the way. |
| 93 | ** Beelzemon in ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. While he does get a redemption arc, some fans refuse to admit he ever did anything wrong in the first place, even though he killed Leomon and was the catalyst for Juri's breakdown. Some try to excuse his actions by claiming that he was ~forced~ into killing Leomon even though he knew exactly what he was getting into when he made that DealWithTheDevil. |
| 94 | * Izaya of ''Literature/{{Durarara}}''. Despite the fact that he's an arrogant [[{{Jerkass}} bastard]] most of the time, likes to fuck with and [[ManipulativeBastard manipulate people and supernatural beings]] ForTheEvulz with no apparent remorse, he's such a recipient of JerkassDissonance that he's easily one of the most popular characters in the series. This is thanks largely to his hilarious dialogue, oddly charming personality, and [[{{Bishonen}} good looks]]. He even manages to be a DILP in series as well, where there's a number of teenage girls such as [[spoiler:Kida's ex-girlfriend/HoneyTrap, Saki,]] who worship the ground he walks on and will follow even his most dangerous requests. |
| 95 | ** Aoba also counts. The number of fans he has is very surprising, given how selfish and self-centered he is. Izumii is a greater example of this, though, with a lot of fans finding his past to be interesting or just liking him for his looks. But the best example is Rokujou Chikage, who is admired by the fandom simply for being a gentleman and for having lots of women. |
| 96 | * Lucy from ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Now, this was completely deliberate on the writers' part, since Lucy is one of the [[JerkassWoobie most sympathetic]] [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds mass murderers in anime history]] with a genuinely powerful FreudianExcuse and does ''slowly'' come around to a HeelFaceTurn capped off with RedemptionEqualsDeath, but regardless: to hear her fanboys (and more than one fangirl) talk, you'd think that she had never done anything wrong and just needed a hug to be turned into an angel of sweetness and light, never mind the fact that she ''started off'' the series freely killing any human except for Kouta who ever crossed her path. The [[AdaptationalNiceGuy anime also likely helped contribute to this]] as her murderous personality is closer to TheStoic EmotionlessGirl rather than the [[SlasherSmile smiling]] and [[AxCrazy sadistic]] one from the manga. Her romantic rival, UnluckyChildhoodFriend Yuka, is of course turned into RonTheDeathEater, and her ClingyJealousGirl tendencies are {{Flanderized}} to the point that the Lucy fandom often gleefully wish for Lucy to dismember Yuka. Of course, Lucy is not only a ClingyJealousGirl herself, but a ''{{Yandere}}'' who slaughtered an entire carnival full of innocent people ('''including Kouta's own father and sister''') when Kouta snubbed her. |
| 97 | * ''Manga/FairyTail'': Ultear, pre-HeelFaceTurn. Her known atrocities are slaughtering Merudy's village, brainwashing Jellal into continuing the Tower of Heaven after the slave revolt, leaving him a reviled criminal in the eyes of most characters, and assisting Lyon in trying to revive a demon who slaughtered several characters' families (he at least wanted to prove that he could kill it, she was planning on using it to wreak havoc). Her motivation, while admittedly sympathetic and working under the belief that all her crimes will be erased, reeks of PoorCommunicationKills by not revealing herself to Ur before deciding that Ur had forgotten about her. Even now that she's TheAtoner, her [[KarmaHoudini only punishment]] was [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique self-inflicted]]. Despite all this, her character has been received quite positively, especially in comparison to the guy whose crimes were forced by her. |
| 98 | ** Acnologia, despite begin an OmnicidalManiac who [[spoiler:killed all the Dragon Slayers' parents, with special brutality toward Igneel in front of his foster son]], remains a fan favorite for being a nigh-unstoppable force who remains one of the few antagonists that have forced the protagonists to recognize that friendship (which often brings the series' PowerLevels into question) doesn't overcome every foe. His popularity increased when [[spoiler:his human form was revealed.]] |
| 99 | ** ''Jackal'' of all people has a surprising number of {{fangirl}}s who give him this treatment, despite being AxCrazy and irredeemably evil. You'd think someone who was willing to [[MoralEventHorizon blow up a pregnant woman]] ForTheEvulz would be impossible to turn into a Draco in Leather Pants, but if not for the fact that plenty of fans were utterly repulsed by his actions, he'd probably qualify as an EnsembleDarkhorse. Mashima was apparently aware of the amount of {{fangirl}}s he had, as he became the MrFanservice of Tartaros after his resurrection, to the point where some fans [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation interpreted]] Lummy's fawning over him as a tongue-in-cheek [[ThisLoserIsYou parody]] of this trope being applied to him. |
| 100 | *** To a slightly lesser extent, Seilah and Kyouka have also gotten this treatment as well, due mainly to the small scenes of the two interacting with one another, and [[spoiler: Kyouka promising Seilah the two of them would meet Zeref together before absorbing her soul.]] |
| 101 | ** A sizable chunk of the fandom has now turned [[BigBad Zeref]] into this, despite him being responsible in some way for virtually every bad thing to happen in-story. By [[ThenLetMeBeEvil his own admission]], he does not value the sanctity of life and does not care who he has to kill to get his way. In the latest arc, he started a full-scale war and has been nonchalantly ruining ''countless'' people's lives to get what he wants, [[spoiler: including that of Natsu, his own little brother. To make this worse, if he ''does'' achieve his goal of finally dying, Natsu will die with him, being that their life forces are apparently connected. Zeref is fully aware of and OK with this. He also had no problem callously explaining all of this to Natsu, including the revelation that he had actually ''[[UnwittingTestSubject experimented on Natsu's dead body]]'' when they were children, reviving him and turning him into [[DemonOfHumanOrigin a literal demon]]]]. The DILP-ification naturally started as soon as his design was revealed, being that he is a cute-faced "young" man, but when his DarkAndTroubledPast came out, it exploded. Meanwhile, his latest actions include [[spoiler: watching [[BigGood Mavis]], his former lover, dying on a table in excruciating agony and doing nothing about it because he needs her magic for his nefarious plots. However, since he showed a small amount of regret about this, the fandom has taken that little moment as a sign of his True Love for her—again, ignoring the fact that he is literally letting her die in front of him]]. Many cries of "what a precious cinnamon roll!" abound throughout the fandom, even though he ''really'' doesn't deserve it. |
| 102 | *** What's also really bad about Zeref is that even though he can sometimes act more humane than some of the other villains in the show, like telling people to flee from him to save themselves and the time he helped Irene, he has many moments where he will act utterly cruel just for cruelty's sake, [[BadBoss even to those under him]]. When he killed his former student Hades, one can write that one off as a PayEvilUntoEvil moment but his murders of Mard Geer and Larcade will make you wonder if he's really just a FauxAffablyEvil prick whose humane AntiVillain persona is... well, just an act. Killing Mard Geer was bad because even though Mard Geer was a demon, everything he did was to fulfill what Zeref programmed him to do and in the end, Zeref has no appreciation for his dedication and ends his life so casually to the point that even Gray was angered by it. His murder of Larcade is even worse specifically because Larcade loved Zeref and considered him a father. And instead of simply telling Larcade to stand down during his battle against Natsu (which Larcade would certainly have done), Zeref goes out of his way to brutally pummel and kill Larcade in the most horrific way possible. And despite talking a good game about how much he loves Natsu and wishes for Natsu to take his life and end his suffering, Zeref certainly was quick to change his mind faster than a coin toss in their final battle and decided that he's [[ItsAllAboutMe perfectly okay with killing Natsu so he can fulfill his agenda of killing Acnologia and going back in time to give himself a happier ending.]] |
| 103 | * Souther/Thouther from ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' could be described as the NobleDemon Raoh, with the word 'Noble' thrown to the trashcan. As a ruthless tyrant, this guy has committed crimes that are [[ThisIsUnforgivable utterly unforgivable]] (including [[MoralEventHorizon brutally torturing children, poisoning said children, and threatening Shuu with an ultimatum that ends up killing Shuu]]). All for one FreudianExcuse of going batshit after killing his master to be the successor of his branch of Nanto Seiken. His possession of said skills, combined with the fact that he's one of the more powerful people in the series and the fact that he's not doing all those purely ForTheEvulz gives him a bit of a charm towards many fans and some, like seiyuu Creator/YukoGoto, end up having him as their favorite character. |
| 104 | * VillainProtagonist Haruko from ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' is so loved for being CrazyIsCool personified that many end up excusing her for [[spoiler:using Naota to nearly bring about the end of human thought, just so she could steal Atomsk's power in the process (and then trying to kill Naota when he ends up taking it instead.) Many fans even wished that Naota had gone with Haruko at the end despite how much of a horrible, selfish person she actually is.]] |
| 105 | * Akito from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', despite being an obsessive ControlFreak that liked torturing his family members and planned to lock one of them in a cage for the rest of his life, was treated sympathetically by the fans almost entirely because he was a cute {{bishonen}}. When it was finally revealed that Akito was not [[spoiler:a bishonen, but a girl]], those fangirls '''immediately''' turned on Akito. Akito ''does'' [[CharacterDevelopment become a more sympathetic and less openly]] ''[[CharacterDevelopment evil]]'' {{character|Development}} when the backstory and motivations are fleshed out in the plot, but that was ''after'' the big reveal. The fangirls had based their opinion ''on the abusive monster Akito''; they thought the MoralEventHorizon was crossed by [[spoiler:Akito's only ''pretending'' to be male]]. |
| 106 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 107 | ** Envy has a rather devoted following despite being a murderous psychopath who enjoys killing and torturing humans and is personally responsible for the killing of another fan favorite character. In the manga and ''Brotherhood'', [[spoiler:he takes delight and pride in the fact that he ignited the Ishbalan War by shooting a small child while in the guise of a moderate Amestrian officer -- who ended up getting court martialed for his actions. As Ed astutely points out, this means Envy is responsible for the Ishbalan genocide, the creation of Scar as a killer and the deaths of the Rockbells. Envy also kills Hughes while impersonating his wife and later taunts Roy about the murder while again looking like Hughes' wife, deriving near sexual pleasure from it.]] In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 the first anime]], [[spoiler:he abuses Wrath when the latter becomes obsessed with trying to revive Sloth after her death, takes on the form of Hughes while Ed is fighting him, and actually manages to kill Ed.]] And yet, many of the fans still love him. |
| 108 | ** Solf J. Kimblee is also similar in terms of personality and popularity; he is the second villian fan favorite after Envy. Kimblee kills humans for fun, and nothing more. He is responsible for mass genocide and is perfectly fine siding with a race that wants to destroy humanity. Yet, fans say his interesting personality make up for the fact that he is an insane murderer. It helps that, despite being clearly insane, he's not a raving lunatic and honestly seems to believe the screwy philosophic he espouses, giving rather poignant descriptions of other characters that there is no reason to believe he's simply making up for shits and giggles. [[spoiler:Having the strength of will to survive being subsumed by one of the strongest homunculi, which of course stems from his aforementioned killy-focused personality, and then manages to drag said homunculus out of his plans for body-snatching and dying with a smile scores him major badass points with the fans, as well as proves that he ''is'' actually serious about what he believes because he turned against Pride due to the hypocrisy of his body-snatching plan.]] |
| 109 | ** What fanboys don't get about Lust is that, while she is [[MsFanservice beautiful]], the whole point of her character is that you shouldn't automatically fall for a character just because of her looks, because if you do, [[BitchInSheepsClothing you might either get betrayed]], [[spoiler:or get killed]]. |
| 110 | * In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi,'' Nakago is pretty much permanently camped out on the wrong side of the MoralEventHorizon, while Suboshi crosses it in a shockingly horrible way about halfway through the series (and though he was partially manipulated by Nakago into doing that, that does ''not'' absolve him of all fault for his actions). However, a combination of [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic childhoods]] and PetTheDog moments have earned both characters enough fan sympathy that Nakago is shipped around in fanfics all over the place, while Suboshi is a more [[FanPreferredCouple popular]] match for Yui than her eventual {{canon}} boyfriend, Tetsuya. Nakago's case also isn't helped by the fact that he's the mangaka's personal favourite character. |
| 111 | * Yuno Gasai from ''Manga/FutureDiary'', the epitome of yanderes. While some fans find her psychotic behavior entertaining and are willing to admit she's a horrible person, there are those fans who seem to deliberately disregard it, crying that Yuno is just a [[FreudianExcuse misunderstood angel who has a good excuse for being the way she is and truly loves Yukiteru because everything she's doing is for him.]] Somehow this all justifies the fact that Yuno has the highest body count in the series, only began stalking and isolating Yukiteru because of a joking promise that she barely remembers, deliberately sabotaged any chances Yukiteru had with another girl, was more than willing to torture/kill his mom if she didn't accept her, kidnapped and strapped him to a chair in an abandoned building for who knows how long, turned him against his only friends and even persuades him to kill them, etc. [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood But that is all okay, because Yuno is just misunderstood and just wants Yuki's love. Can you blame her?]] |
| 112 | * From the way fans of ''Manga/GabrielDropout'' talk, you would think Satanichia Kurumizawa McDowell is a poor, pitiful [[TheWoobie woobie]] who spends each and every day of her life being bullied by her {{False Friend}}s...except not only is she a KnowNothingKnowItAll, she's incredibly [[TheGadfly annoying]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissistic]] to a fault, and too stupid to figure out hints that stare her in the face. Pretty much the only reason the other characters lash out at her is because she keeps antagonizing Gabriel, who just wants to be left alone, and is the only one stupid enough to keep falling for [[{{Troll}} Raphiel]]'s schemes. |
| 113 | * Being a BishoujoSeries as well as a GagSeries that depends on CharacterExaggeration, ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' wouldn't be ''Galaxy Angel'' if they didn't do this intentionally. We therefore end up with a bunch of these who are marketed by their creators as lovable characters that the audience should want to be with. The most obvious example is Mint, whose scheming makes use of her [[OlderThanTheyLook odd pint-size]] [[{{Moe}} cuteness]] for fraud -- she once claimed that she and Vanilla were destitute and suicidal to get money out of a semi driver, despite her already being loaded. Even her more selfless [[VideoGame/GalaxyAngel videogame persona]], which the anime parodies, is shrewd and selfish to a point. |
| 114 | * ''Manga/GetterRobo'' suffers from this as well. All the characters are anti-heroes to some degree, and generally quite violent and dickish. But the one character who gets the vast majority of fanart? SociopathicHero Hayato, a ''terrorist'' and the only protagonist who outright murders people and could be called legitimately crazy. |
| 115 | * ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': |
| 116 | ** Kamui is a violent BloodKnight, and unapologetically so, even by [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Yato]] standards. He have no qualms going against his own family or killing people who didn't do anything to him. But Because he is [[EvilIsCool cool]] and [[{{Bishonen}} good-looking]] fan-art tend to rarely pay attention to thoses details. There is even a rather popular Kamui x Soyo pairing , despite the fact that their only interaction was when he brutally tried to assasinate her, in the middle of trying to assassinate her brother. He got slightly better in canon after the heroes managed to punch some sense into him, but the leather pants where there long before that. |
| 117 | ** Okita isn't exactly evil, and even hassome heartwarming PetTheDog moments in canon, but he is clearly a sadist, a assassin who [[SlasherSmile enjoys]] fighting and [[BloodLust killing]] his oponents, and act like a JerkAss more often than not. This is where the [[ComedicSociopathy humor]] come from with him. And yet it's not uncommon for fanworks to portray him as much nicer than this, with more than a few portrayals of him coming off as merely TroubledButCute. He is frequently shipped with the characters he [[FoeYayShipping antagonize]] the most, Kagura and [[HoYay Hijikata]]. |
| 118 | * ''Anime/GregoryHorrorShow''. Would you believe Hell's Chef has his share of fangirls? Never mind that he's little more than a golem made of candle wax who cares for nothing outside of preparing cuisine, but his tendency to [[HairTriggerTemper fly into murderous rage at the drop of a hat]] and [[AxCrazy kill anyone who crosses him]] with [[{{BFS}} a knife that's as big as he is]] would make him seen like less of a catch. |
| 119 | * Although ''not'' evil (she does have a good side), there's Athena from Manga/HayateTheCombatButler. Her fans have a tendency to disregard any indications that she might not be entirely good or that she might have some personality problems (which she rather [[{{Yandere}} does]]) in favour of focusing on how 'beautiful and awesome' she is. Anyone who tries to point this out will likely either get attacked, be accused of {{troll}}ing, or be told 'Well, only her fans can see how truly great she is!'. (They've also been spotted claiming she's the author's favourite character, for some reason.) |
| 120 | * "Host Samurai", a vampire who was forced to join the ''Manga/{{Gantz}}'' team, is in danger of becoming this. Never mind that he's killed numerous people [[spoiler:''including both the main character and his brother.'']] |
| 121 | * ''Anime/HealinGoodPrettyCure'' has Daruizen, one of the first generals of King Byogen the heroines meet. He's [[TheHero Nodoka/Cure Grace's]] EnemyWithout, being the cause of an illness that put her in the hospital for a year. He's completely apathetic and uncaring... and has a very {{Bishonen}} look, which made fans cling to him and pair him with Nodoka. When he created Kedary by infecting Nodoka with a Mega Part, his fans squeed with delight because they considered Kedary Daruizen and Nodoka's child. And when an injured Daruizen begged Nodoka to let him recover in her body and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere she decided to run for the hills in terror over being ill again]], the fans condemed ''her'' for not helping him. The series makes it quite clear that Daruizen is a terrible person and Nodoka has every right to condemn and refuse him, but the fans want to see him as [[Anime/DokiDokiPrecure Ira 2.0]]. |
| 122 | * ''Literature/TheHeroicLegendOfArslan'': [[BigBad Hilmes/Silver Mask]] has done everything in his wake. He has killed Daryun's uncle Vahriz, kidnaps [[TheHero Arslan]]'s father Andragoras, leads the Lusitanians to conquer Ecbatana the Royal Capital of Pars, kills a Lady-in-Waiting, held Arslan's mother Tahamine hostage, kills Alfreed's father, kills Bahman while trying to kill Arslan, etc. This has not stop fans (females in general) from cheering on him and reclaim the throne that was stolen from him, most likely a result of his looks or the burns on the right side of his face, or his voice in either the [[Creator/YuukiKaji sub]] or the [[Creator/VicMignogna dub]]. The fact that he can possibly kill anybody or anything in his way is something that fans might appeal to. Either way, the [=fangirls=] still love him for that. |
| 123 | * ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' |
| 124 | ** [[MoeAnthropomorphism Russia]] is a JerkassWoobie who has a canon FreudianExcuse for being a mentally unstable PsychopathicManchild and has a [[PetTheDog soft spot for his sister Ukraine]], but whose CuteAndPsycho tendencies are precisely what draws many fans to him in the first place. As a result, he's one of those characters who ''both'' [[RonTheDeathEater inverts]] this and plays it straight: On one hand, a number of fans happily embrace his psychotic tendencies in fanworks, some of them even ''exaggerating'' them to turn him into a MemeticMolester who rapes and tortures other nations at every opportunity - some of this is admittedly due to DieForOurShip reasons, but such portrayals of Russia in a MindGameShip with another nation are almost always done by ''supporters'' of that ship. However, on the other hand, an equal number of fans tone down his psychoticness and/or the "Jerkass" part of JerkassWoobie in shipping fics, sometimes to the point of making him completely unrecognizable as a 100% sane and mentally stable guy or a suave "bad guy" with barely a hint of childishness or Yandereness. All of this is why many Russia fans tend not to like ''any'' shipping fanfiction involving him, as you will almost never find a version of him anywhere ''near'' canon. |
| 125 | ** Prussia, too. He's a former [[BloodKnight Templar]] who has sought combat since he was a child, beat up other nations and got himself beaten up as well, grew as a ChurchMilitant teenage nation who ''still'' got into many fights, as an adult nation he kept fighting everyone in his surroudings, and even after calming down a bit he can still be quite the JerkAss. While's he's not a bad guy ''per se'' and has had a number of PetTheDog moments, some of his rabid fangirls like to paint him as a super sexy badass who never does anything wrong and either has more "right" to Hungary's vagina than [[RonTheDeathEater that stupid, "abusive", unmanly sissy Austria]], or is a poor little angel while Hungary is an evil bitch for not bowing to him. (That is, unless Prussia is given the RonTheDeathEater treatment...) |
| 126 | ** England is another one who suffers from this. As a {{Tsundere}} with [[TheWoobie Woobie]] tendencies some of his more...devoted fans who either take his deredere moments too far (which often crosses over with {{Ukefication}})or they play up his 'cool' traits (piracy, snark, politeness, extra) to ridiculous degrees- turning him from an endearing, emotionally stunted grouch with a drink problem to a smooth talking, gorgeous Badass who never puts a foot wrong (even in fics involving the British Empire or his Brothers). It is, unsurprisingly, especially common in shipping fics, and like the other two hetalia characters here the author may site a backlash against RonTheDeathEater treatment for their portrayal |
| 127 | * ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': [[FetishizedAbuser Raynare]] has killed [[TheHero Issei]], mocked him after killing Asia, and has shown little to no redeeming qualities. This has not stopped people from wishing her to come back to life and [[HeelFaceTurn reform]], most likely a result of her sex appeal (which is mainly due to [[AdaptationalSkimpiness the anime giving her a skimpy outfit]]), the fact that she pretended to be nice to Issei during their date and [[VillainsWantMercy after reverting into her civilian clothes while at the Mercy of the]] [[BadassCrew Occult Research Club]], and the idea that [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter she could have been so much more than]] a simple TokenMotivationalNemesis and given a chance to show HiddenDepths. |
| 128 | * ''Manga/HotGimmick'': A lot of fangirls are willing to overlook [[FetishizedAbuser Ryoki's]] constant physical, verbal, [[AttemptedRape sexual]], and [[ManipulativeBastard psychological]] abuse of the heroine Hatsumi because of his good looks. So what if he treats his LoveInterest like trash? He's pretty and he has angst! And she's a dumb whore for not liking it anyway! |
| 129 | * ''Manga/InuYasha'': |
| 130 | ** Sesshoumaru became one of the most popular characters from his introduction. While CharacterDevelopment eventually makes him better than he used to be, earning him many more fans on much more reasonable merits, his earliest and cruelest behavior gets glossed over. Some fans will cheer on his cold acts toward Inuyasha before and after his character shift, [[DoubleStandard while at the same time]] [[RonTheDeathEater bashing Kagome and Shippo]] for their far less meaner, and sometimes understandable, acts. |
| 131 | ** The hugely popular Kouga's introduction is glossed over by fans and canon. He is introduced slaughtering human villages and allowing his wolves to slay and eat the villagers. Rin's village is one of the victims and the wolves cause her [[DeathIsCheap first death]]. Although Inuyasha frequently interacts with both Kouga and Rin's guardian Sesshoumaru, the manga never allows either Kouga and Sesshoumaru to meet[[labelnote:*]]the anime did do a filler encounter between them[[/labelnote]] or Inuyasha's group to learn that Kouga killed Rin. Inuyasha's group does gloss over Kouga's human-slaying history and that this behaviour is typical of his entire tribe. As a result, some of his fans often feel justified in glossing over this, too. |
| 132 | ** Naraku. Unlike the above two, he has no CharacterDevelopment, and he tortures, manipulates, and tries to kill every member of the main cast several times over. |
| 133 | ** Yura of the Demon Hair. For...[[MsFanService some not-so-subtle reasons]]. |
| 134 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 135 | ** Often happens with Dio Brando. This is particularly odd, as Dio is not meant to have ANY redeeming features. He's just pretty, and [[EvilIsHammy hammy]]. It likely stems from his [[FreudianExcuse unfortunate backstory]] (but even Speedwagon [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech points out]] that he had an even worse life and turned out fine) and the fact that he's so over-the-top and charismatic that [[http://smooti.tumblr.com/post/148032476395/realistically-i-am-probably-supposed-to-hate-dio plenty of fans find him oddly charming]]. There also exists a subgenre of fanart called "Mudad" which depicts Dio as a caring father for his son Giorno, despite being a DisappearedDad in canon. [[note]]though the author Hirohiko Araki has suggested in interviews that he personally thinks that Dio would have had some concern and affection to Giorno had the two ever met.[[/note]] |
| 136 | ** Wamuu, from ''Manga/BattleTendency'', is a NobleDemon with a strong sense of honor and who openly respects Joseph and Caesar, acknowledging them as {{Worthy Opponent}}s. Some fans thus treat him as the TokenGoodTeammate of the Pillar Men and imagine him undergoing a HeelFaceTurn, despite him [[PunyHumans viewing most of humanity the way we view bugs]] (as shown in the sheer indifference he expresses towards his gruesome killing of Mark), and his UndyingLoyalty towards the genocidal, power-hungry Kars (who seeks to enslave all of humanity and turn them into his food source). |
| 137 | ** It also happens with Hol Horse, the smug, womanizing cowboy, who many people even want to see join the good guys, despite having [[spoiler: shot one of them in the head]]. Though [[WhatCouldHaveBeen actually]] Hol Horse was originally going to join the protagonists after [[spoiler:Avdol's death]]. However, Araki came to feel that he was too similar to Polnareff in appearance and personality, and Kakyoin in ability. For these reasons, among others, Hol Horse remained an antagonist. |
| 138 | ** There's a section of fans that treat Yoshikage Kira, the villain of ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond Is Unbreakable]]'', as a guy who's just a victim of his own impulses and doing the best he can with his situation (namely, he's a killer because he has seemingly-uncontrollable murderous urges, and his overall motivation is just to live a peaceful life in between murdering people). This ignores the fact that, while Kira's urges are uncontrollable, he doesn't seem to have a ''problem'' with them, except when they put him at risk. He also has absolutely no compunctions about killing people when he ''doesn't'' have to, and indeed, [[{{Sadist}} seems to take a great deal of pleasure in doing so.]] He is also a total misogynist which plays a very big factor in his killings to boot. |
| 139 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'': |
| 140 | *** La Squadra Ezecusioni are often played as this by the fandom, often shipping them with each other or depicting them as a loving family brotherhood of sorts, when it's clear in canon that they harbor some dislike toward each other and are mostly just working together as a hitman team for financial gain (especially Formaggio and Illuso, a surprisingly common fandom pairing despite the two being cruel and unpleasant toward each other in their few canon interactions.) |
| 141 | *** '''Doppio.''' Frequently portrayed in fandom as an adorable, innocent child-like cutie, despite ''having murdered his own mother '''during his childhood''','' being nearly as unhinged as Diavolo himself, and ''[[spoiler:punching a hole in Abbacchio's torso and killing him]].'' |
| 142 | *** Even the protagonists get in on it. Bucciarati's team gets the leather-pants treatment from fans who forget that, despite being sympathetic, they're still gangsters willing to torture and kill their enemies if necessary, often in brutal ways. Narancia in particular is always portrayed as innocent and adorable TagalongKid, with fans ignoring or forgetting that he has a pretty aggressive nature and a hot temper [[spoiler:and a kill-count of 4 by the end of the part.]] |
| 143 | ** Funny Valentine of ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'' built his whole philosophy on [[MightMakesRight dominating others to set his terms]], killed or ordered the deaths of dozens of people, cheerfully works with murderers and sociopaths, and tried to rape a fourteen-year-old. Plenty of fans will overlook this because he has a touch of VillainousValour, and his primary motivation is to strengthen the United States, rather than himself. And even said goal of helping out his country isn't as noble as it sounds, as [[spoiler:his plan involves transferring all of America's misfortune onto the rest of the world, ensuring that only his nation can thrive while others suffer]]. Coincidentally, [[MisaimedFandom many of these fans are American.]] |
| 144 | * ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'': |
| 145 | ** Sukuna is charismatic, cool and has a suave voice to go with his appearance. He's also an extreme narcissist that goes to any length to make Yuji's life miserable from doing something as petty as laughing at Yuji's [[spoiler: inability to save Junpei, to controlling his body to commit a massacre and switch back to Yuji so the kid can have a mental breakdown]]. |
| 146 | ** Mahito can be childishly cute, has a soft-spoken voice and an attractive appearance, looking past the oddities and whenever he's not transforming into something horrific. This tends to overlook the fact that he's largely a heartless sociopath that transforms his victims into horrific beings who die shortly after from the pain, backstabs those who trust him and will laugh at a person's demise the he causes personally to show how much he enjoys screwing with them. |
| 147 | ** Toji Zen'in is [[MrFanservice pretty easy on the eyes]], a total badass in combat, suffered a DarkAndTroubledPast that would make anyone sympathetic towards him, and had a touching moment where he [[spoiler: killed himself upon realizing he was fighting his own son]]. All this combined tends to make people forget that his introduction consisted of him [[spoiler:murdering a 15-year-old girl, abandoning his son when he was very young and harboring a irrational hatred of and a desire to kill Gojo out of petty spite since the latter was a small boy.]] |
| 148 | * Fans of ''Franchise/KagerouProject'' often do this to The Snake of Clearing Eyes when he's in his human form, AKA Kuroha. Despite the fact that Kuroha's human form is just [[spoiler:Konoha's body under his possession.]] Many fans of the series will either make him out to be a lonely soul that just wanted love or friendship, especially after seeing the anime ending where [[spoiler:his consciousness is dissolved, and his life force used to bring back Hiyori.]] They tend to either gloss over or even glorify the fact that his true goal is simply to live and continue existing forever [[spoiler:by killing Marry's friends over and over again in increasingly brutal ways, causing her to reset the timeline. This allows him to live forever with no one the wiser, until the events of Summertime Record]]. |
| 149 | * Leon Oswald from ''Anime/KaleidoStar''. While he ''does'' have understandable reasons to be the way he is, these do NOT justify how his fangirls handwave or ommit the crap he has pulled on Sora, May and on many others, like [[spoiler:the innocent partners that he injured just to test their worth.]] Not to mention we only learn of said FreudianExcuse ''very'' late in the story... and he was a DILP ever since his first appearance. |
| 150 | * Satsuki from ''Anime/KillLaKill'' gets this treatment ''a lot''. Even though she [[spoiler:was GoodAllAlong and did a genuine HeelFaceTurn]], many people seem to gloss over or downright ignore the fact that she was at first ANaziByAnyOtherName[=/=][[AristocratsAreEvil Evil Aristocrat]], running Hounnouji Academy through fear and Social Darwinism. She even nearly crosses the MoralEventHorizon by [[spoiler:allowing an entire stadium's worth of people to be consumed by Covers, though she admittedly did save them afterward]]. This is mainly due to the fact that she's an attractive [[EvilIsCool badass]] with an [[AbusiveParents even worse mother]] who is implied to be responsible for [[ParentalIncest her daugher's villainy]]. The Elite Four get this treatment as well, mainly for the same reasons, though since they're the QuirkyMinibossSquad they probably would have gotten it regardless. |
| 151 | ** This comes to bite them in the ass in the {{OVA}}, when [[AvengingTheVillain Rei]] uses clones [[IHatePastMe of their past selves]] to combat them, showing that merely becoming heroes after all the crimes they've done isn't good enough redemption. |
| 152 | ** A rare few apply this treatment to Nui Harime, who admittedly has a pretty sad existence when one thinks about it, but more often this trope is subverted with her, with fans either [[HateSink despising her for being a psychotic bitch]] or [[LoveToHate adoring her for being a psychotic bitch.]] |
| 153 | * ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': Sinbad is the best example of this — despite having conquered most of the world and not being that heroic, on top of [[spoiler: what he did to Kougyoku]], he is still seen as a great person. Jafar and most notably Judar get this in spades, with most people overlooking Judar's evil nature on account of his sad past, despite the fact that he doesn't even remember it. The Kou Empire is the best example, however, as despite being very morally gray people, the fans have forgotten this fact and treated them as the 'heroes' of the series-with Kouen being shown in fanfiction as a misunderstood figure who just wants peace (never mind that Judar said he likes war), Kouha is a misunderstood rascal who just likes shedding blood, and Hakuryuu Ren is by far the most vaunted character. Despite having [[spoiler: murdered his best friend and his own mother as well as sending his own soldiers in to die in battle]], there are still people who act like Hakuryuu never did anything wrong in the series. |
| 154 | * It has been done with Zagato from ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' -- treating him as the hero of the first story arc... despite his being willing to deceive and manipulate his underlings, even letting one of them die in the manga due to a YouHaveFailedMe moment. He may have had motives we can sympathize with, but still... he was going to kill the only genuine, complete innocents in the entire affair. And his plan involved ''letting the world be destroyed along with countless innocent people in it'' simply because it was based on an unfair and corrupt system. |
| 155 | * A lot of fans of ''Manga/MajinTanteiNougamiNeuro'' conveniently forget that Neuro is a ruthless, manipulative, sadistic demon who truly enjoys torturing people for the heck of it. They also forget the fact that he saved humanity only to wait for the day they kill each other to [[EmotionEater create his food]]. |
| 156 | * Creator/MayuShinjo has a habit of creating these characters (sometimes ''literally''). Sakuya Ookochi from ''Manga/SensualPhrase'' and Uon Hakuron from ''Manga/HaouAiren'' are two notable examples of these. They have [[{{Bishonen}} good looks]] and while their {{Dark and Troubled Past}}s ''does'' make them for who they are, these still do ''not'' justify their {{Jerkass}} tendencies and their treatment to their respective love interests (Aine and Kurumi) borders on Loving Force multiple times. On the flipside, fangirls tend to bash Aine and Kurumi for being "bitches", "weak", and they also putting the blame on ''them'' for the ''abuse piling on them''. |
| 157 | * ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': '''Johan Liebert'''. Given that he is a fairly attractive young man, this treatment was practically unavoidable. If anything, some fans have a habit of always excusing Johan's actions in a sympathetic light, no matter how flawed the argument is. |
| 158 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': |
| 159 | ** In-universe, there's Stain, a ruthless HeroKiller, who wants to make the word better by finishing heroes he doesn't deem worthy of the title. He is also brutally [[JerkassHasAPoint right]], some heroes just got into the business for fame and fortune, overlooking the part where they need to save people and help them or seeing it as a stepping stone, even Midoriya is forced to agree with his ideals. Because his ideas made so much sense, merchandising of him was sold and various fans of him joined the Villain's Alliance, while they ignored that he killed many heroes or inflicted {{Career Ending Injur|y}}ies on them. |
| 160 | ** Due to being a BaseBreakingCharacter, Bakugou can be seen as this. He was Midoriya's bully ever since they were 4, he was feared even by the teachers and still has a lot of attitude problems. He has received a lot of CharacterDevelopment, and while he still can't deal with people properly, he at least doesn't want to murder everybody all the time, except maybe Midoriya and Todoroki, but fans always treated him lovingly. |
| 161 | ** The entire League Of Villains started getting this to some extent after later arcs started portraying them as TrueCompanions and a CriminalFoundFamily. Several members were given a FreudianExcuse and were written as [[VillainProtagonist Villain Protagonists]] in some arcs. However, some portions of the fanbase took this to the extent of seeing them as anti-heroic rebels against an oppressive, authoritarian regime, or else as a band of traumatized misfits looking for a place to belong (or both!). Neither view is particularly in line with canon, and is very, ''very'' forgiving of their numerous crimes. At no point do they express a desire to help or free anyone other than themselves, they have no problem killing innocent people in pursuit of their goals, and their ultimate end-goals are individually quite selfish, and collectively ammount to plunging the nation into a state of anarchy wherein they can do whatever they want without restrictions. Fans also tend to over-exxagerate the CriminalFoundFamily element, forgetting that only ''some'' members ever express such sentiments, while others, like Dabi, are openly cold to their comrades, while Mr. Compress demures on it. |
| 162 | * ''Anime/MyHime'': |
| 163 | ** DarkMagicalGirl and self-professed [[LonersAreFreaks lone wolf]] Nao Yuuki is a frequent recipient of the "leather pants" treatment , and is often [[FoeYayShipping paired with Natsuki]], the girl she blames for [[spoiler:[[EyeScream putting out one of her eyes]]]] and with whom she had a strong mutual dislike before then! Must be something about the [[WolverineClaws claws]]...or the [[EvilRedhead red hair]] although it could probably also due to the fact that she and Natsuki were [[GambitRoulette played like fiddles]] to kick off that very confrontation. Insecure bluster aside, Nao seemed quite fine to stay out of it and was starting to warm up to the group until the [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive call to battle found her resting peacefully in the park]]. After that, it went FromBadToWorse. It also doesn't help that her backstory [[spoiler:and [[TearJerker her reaction]] to her mother's death]], while not excusing her actions, firmly establishes her as a JerkassWoobie. |
| 164 | ** Nina Wang still manages to retain some degree of sympathy from ''Anime/MyOtome'' audiences, who are willing to downplay her [[spoiler:accidentally killing Erstin Ho, and then killing tens of thousands of innocent people to please her father]] by stating that she was merely a pawn of the BigBad when it happened. ''Anime/MyOtomeZwei'' indicates that "this degree of sympathy" is now more or less {{Canon}}, as [[CharacterDevelopment she resolves to]] [[TheAtoner atone for what she has done]] [[HeelFaceTurn by helping Arika]]. Whether that's due to AscendedFanon, RunningTheAsylum, or those who have that sympathy being spot-on in their evaluation of Nina's motivations is left as an exercise to the reader. |
| 165 | ** Shizuru Fujino's original incarnation in ''Anime/MyHime'' took her lesbian crush to obsessive and terrifying [[PsychoLesbian predatory extremes]]. Nonetheless, being TheOjou and an OneeSama meant she was the most popular character amongst the show's female fandom, which manages to portray her actions (admittedly, the victims of which include some of the main antagonists and the aforementioned Nao) as being forged of pure love and passion. There are some implications that she [[DudeShesLikeInAComa may have raped Natsuki while she was unconscious]], although it is never explicitly revealed whether this happened, as only a vague glimpse and the word of a third party are provided, but Shizuru fans will largely deny that she did. |
| 166 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Despite being one of the least sympathetically portrayed of all the Akatsuki, Hidan has some of the most die-hard fangirls. While he is sexy and [[LaughablyEvil funny]], especially in the anime, he's still a sadistic murderer who enjoys inflicting ColdBloodedTorture on his victims in the name of [[ReligionOfEvil Jashinism]]. Even so, various fangirls have used multiple methods to justify his sociopathy, from inventing sympathetic backstories, to using {{Freudian Excuse}}s, and even using other excuses to villify his victims. His demeanor as a LargeHam who acts almost like a PsychopathicManchild and has very amusing interactions with Kakuzu in the anime doesn't help much, either. But despite his amusing antics, he's still an irredeemably evil asshole, and an entirely unapologetic one at that. |
| 167 | * ''Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': |
| 168 | ** Kaworu Nagisa, a HumanoidAbomination in a {{Bishonen}} high schooler's body. The internet arguing became even more heated with the arrival of the manga adaptation, where he's [[KickTheDog disturbingly]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality alien]] and the [[LighterAndSofter alternate universe spinoff fluff]] where he [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy just wants to see Shinji happy]]. |
| 169 | ** Asuka is arguably another case of this. In spite of her utterly appalling treatment of her fellow pilots, her blatant LackOfEmpathy, her arrogance and her penchant for throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way, she's clearly one of the most popular characters. And all anyone who wants to defend her has to say, "But she had a tragic childhood..." |
| 170 | * ''Manga/OnePiece:'' |
| 171 | ** Pirate Empress Boa Hancock has so many fans who think she's going to join the crew and easily be the strongest, marry Luffy, and free all the slaves in the world. In reality, her overall moral character is still questionable; she doesn't really seem to care for anyone other than her family and Luffy. She's ''very'' sympathetic, and ''does'' have a [[MadeASlave genuinely]] [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil good]] FreudianExcuse, but [[JerkAssWoobie she's still not nearly as good as some of her fans would like her to be.]] |
| 172 | ** [[SmugSnake Spandam]] has a small Draco in Leather Pants fandom despite being a [[DirtyCoward pathetic coward]] who's even weaker than the average Marine but has no qualms against abusing helpless prisoners and no remorse when he accidentally orders an attack that would annihilate the island he's currently on. He even wears [[LeatherMan a large amount of leather on the show]], which may or may not be part of the reason. Conversely, [[AmericansHateTingle in America]] he's hated just as much as [[HateSink he]] [[JerkAss deserves.]] |
| 173 | ** Blackbeard. He gained a lot of fans through being AffablyEvil and having his worst crimes (murdering one of his comrades and devastating Drum Island) happen off-screen. Even after his acts in the Marineford Arc confirmed without a shadow of doubt that he's evil and shaping up to be the BigBad, he retains a fan following. [[CharacterPerceptionEvolution Nowadays]], though, it's more common to see people say they like him precisely '''because''' he's evil. |
| 174 | * ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'': UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist variant; the Matsuno brothers often have their personality flaws downplayed in fanworks, instead having them come across as "cute" and "quirky" rather than acting like their goofy and immature selves. This, coupled with SelfFanservice below, is especially prominent in shipping work and [[SelfInsertFic reader insert fics]]. This gets especially bad with [[{{Narcissist}} Karamatsu]] and [[CloudCuckooLander Jyushimatsu]], as even though they're not ''quite'' as bad as the other brothers, most of their less savory moments are ignored for a "completely good" characterization. |
| 175 | * ''Manga/OutlawStar'' has Harry Macdougal, who gets love from fangirls despite being an AxCrazy StalkerWithACrush. Yeah, it was really cute the way Harry slapped Melfina around when she turned down his advances and tried to kidnap her. It probably has a lot to do with the end of the series, when [[spoiler:Harry, reduced to his last legs from the effort of getting to Melfina ''and'' from having his body brutally broken by Hazankou, says a very tender farewell and gives his life to wake her up for the climax, and Melfina, for her part, is more broken up about it than any real person with their history ever would be.]] Draco in Leather Pants because of DeathEqualsRedemption. They're starting to recurse... |
| 176 | * ''Literature/Overlord2012'': Nazarick all get several huge pairs ([[GenuineHumanHide likely made out human victims]]) from fans who justify their atrocities as "just looking out for Nazarick's interests" and insist that they [[AboveGoodAndEvil cannot be judged by human morality]]. [[spoiler:Not even the genocide of the Re-Estize kingdom could convince them otherwise.]] Ainz is probably the biggest case, as even to this day, there are several people who choose to see Ainz as an AntiHero or at least a neutral character rather than an EvilOverlord, which could be explained by most of these people being fans who'd only have watched the anime or manga adaptation and haven't read the light novels, [[AdaptationalHeroism thus being unaware of his most despicable actions]]. However, his servants, particularly the guardians, don't have that excuse. They are depicted as being (most of them anyway) evil monsters with no redeeming qualities or morals beyond their loyalty and care for Ainz and Nazarick, with many committing several horrible crimes, in particular, Demiurge's "farm". People still like them and ignore their monstrous personalities because of their funny/emotional moments around Ainz, being attractive humanoid creatures (specially Albedo, Shalltear, and the Pleiades) and as some people argue, they are not guilty of being that way, since they were created and programmed to behave like that. |
| 177 | * ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has a ton of characters who fit this trope, mostly because the [[DysfunctionJunction entire cast is]] [[CastFullOfCrazy messed up,]] making it very hard not to feel bad for them. |
| 178 | ** Vincent Nightray is this. His only redeeming quality is his love for his brother Gilbert, who he often uses and tries to mind control in an attempt to make him murder his friends. He abuses his servant, he poisons people, he cuts the heads off stuffed animals, [[spoiler: murdered Alyss's cat out of jealousy and bullied her, beheaded most of his family, planned to use Ada and didn't care at all about the people he killed.]] Despite this, a chat with any of his many fans might make you think it's all Jack to blame when the kid has been messed up for a long time before Jack entered the picture. A better example is Levi, who literally played with Lacie's life and [[spoiler: mentally abused her and imprisoned her.]] |
| 179 | ** [[spoiler:Jack Vessalius]] can definitely be considered this for a portion of the fandom. He's a [[spoiler:serial killer who almost destroyed the world several times for his own selfish desire to be with Lacie again, even after she had died.]] A certain part of the fandom still insists that [[spoiler:Jack]] was "so desperately in love with [[spoiler:Lacie]]" that losing her justifies his insanity because LoveMakesYouCrazy. This part of the fandom persisted even when [[WordOfGod Jun Mochizuki]] debunked this by revealing [[spoiler:Jack is a complete and utter sociopath who's obsessed with Lacie out of extreme hatred rather than extreme love, and who can only feel alive through spite.]] |
| 180 | * ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'': |
| 181 | ** In the specific case of Keigo Atobe, he's a MagnificentBastard who can be ruthless on the courts ''and'' has the [[LargeHam biggest court presence]] in the series, but also has genuine PetTheDog moments (like the "Atobe kara no Okurimono" movie). Some of his fans take their love of him a bit ''too'' far: they scream "OMG ORE-SAMA YAAAAAAAY!" at the sight of him, mindlessly gush over his good looks and twist him into some sort of selfless, gorgeous ShelteredAristocrat who shall be adored and loved, while [[RonTheDeathEater horribly bashing whoever looks at him wrong]] (specially Ryoma, and sometimes Yukimura if [[DieForOurShip they're Atobe/Sanada fangirls]]). |
| 182 | ** Yukimura and Rikkaidai. People tend to forget that he and the rest of the team have Kirihara as their TykeBomb, which is a BrokenAesop considering the general attitude against in-courts violence. Yes, he and the others [[JerkAssWoobie have more sympathetic sides]] as their devotion to each other ''is'' very genuine otherwise, and Yukimura ''is'' [[YamatoNadeshiko a kind person]] aside of this, but it doesn't excuse [[JerkAssDissonance a behavior that would be seen]] [[KickTheDog as horrifyingly abusive and cruel]] in any other series. (Compare ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' and the treatment of their local Tykebomb, Carlos Santana.) |
| 183 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': |
| 184 | ** Kyouko Sakura of is an interesting example of a ''temporary'' Draco in Leather Pants. She started out as a selfish, amoral, and overly aggressive {{Jerkass}}, before revealing a major and very well-done FreudianExcuse and [[TookALevelInKindness steadily becoming a much kinder person]] thanks to the influence of the rest of the cast (particularly her initial rival, Sayaka). However, a tremendous amount of pantsing occurred '''before''' the as-then-unanticipated CharacterDevelopment made it irrelevant, simply because she happened to look cool. |
| 185 | ** All of the witches, particularly [[KillerRabbit Charlotte]]. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:All witches were were once magical girls, who fell into despair]]. They all have big fanbases, and even excuse Charlotte from the fact [[spoiler:she ate Mami's head]]. In some cases, magical girls are subjected to RonTheDeathEater because they hunt witches. |
| 186 | ** The series itself is an {{Expy}} of the public domain work ''Theatre/{{Faust}}''...except ''Puella'''s Faust analogue [[AdaptationalHeroism isn't]] a bored hedonist who sells his soul for petty luxuries. Actually, she isn't [[WellIntentionedExtremist that]] villainous at all, as everything she does is motivated either by trauma or her desire to save [[spoiler:Madoka]] from a horrific death...Wait, how are the characters similar again? |
| 187 | ** ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'' introduced Oriko, a villainous {{Seer|s}} who [[spoiler:murdered at least one version of Madoka]] to save the world. While her methods are usually acknowledged as questionable, [[spoiler:she assessed that Homura would gladly let the world burn if it meant making Madoka happy]], which led to a bunch saying [[TheExtremistWasRight she was right]] after the release of... |
| 188 | ** ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. A large part of the MisaimedFandom proved very quick to ignore [[spoiler:Homura's LoveMakesyouEvil-fueled FaceHeelTurn. Sure,[[AGodAmI she's calling herself the Devil]], she's trapped the Goddess of Hope in a fantasy world, she erased the memories of anyone who could stop her, she has plainly stopped caring about the opinions of the person she loved, but [[DemotedToDragon she made Kyubey her bitch]], that's plenty for some people. It '''is''' true that [[BrokenBird she has completely lost it]] after [[DespairEventHorizon seeing/doing/experiencing shit and some more]], but she does admit that there's no turning back at this rate.]] |
| 189 | * ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': |
| 190 | ** This trope has been applied to nearly all of the characters, DependingOnTheWriter's well-intended rationalization of a character's comedy-prone, ridiculously over-the-top personality. In fact, some {{Fanon}} takes on characters such as this have gotten so bad that a lot of people ''remember them as {{canon}}''. For instance, people will remember Shampoo attacking [[spoiler:the attempted wedding]] at the end of the series, but will somehow conveniently forget Ukyo's taking part in it... or even claim that she was defending everybody from Shampoo! Even a cursory glance at the manga will tell anyone this isn't so, and yet the Lionized Ukyo Who Defends Ranma and Akane's Love persists. |
| 191 | ** One of the most pervasive applications is usually on Nabiki Tendo. Since she is a relatively levelheaded and cerebral character, most FanFic writers severely downplay her outgoing harmonic and cheerful extreme greed, selfishness, sadism, and ruthlessness, or turn her into a completely opposite "isolated tragic ice queen altruist". Naturally, Creator/RumikoTakahashi -- [[WordOfGod her creator]] -- describes this nature, in combination with always getting away with what she's doing, as [[ComedicSociopathy the reason that she is funny]]. |
| 192 | * Lucia from ''Manga/RaveMaster'', who is essentially that world's Hitler, is all too often looked at as a poor troubled boy who just took the only path open to him after having a [[FreudianExcuse bad childhood]]. Yes, getting locked up in prison as a little kid because of who your dad is sucks, '''but it's not an excuse to go and commit mass murder'''. It might help that he actually sees himself that way, and has a whole rant in the final battle about how he wasn't given any real options. Of course, Haru's [[ShutUpHannibal "right, not buying it"]] helps to balance things out. |
| 193 | * ''Manga/Reborn2004'': |
| 194 | ** The Varia, specifically their [[BadBoss leader]] [[EvilPrince Xanxus]], further enforced by the fact that they really do all wear leather pants. Even the robot. In fact, every single villain (and even one WildCard protagonist) in Reborn is subject to this. Taken to ridiculous lengths in Japanese fandom when [[AxCrazy Hibari]] and [[NietzscheWannabe Mukuro]] ranked #1 and #4 respectively in a poll for [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-06-12/survey/k-on-mio-reborn-hibari-are-no.1-bride-and-groom who people would most like to marry]]. |
| 195 | ** The cold hearted, abusive, manipulative and arrogant [[spoiler:Daemon Spade]], on whom most fangirls' comments can be summed as "I know he's an asshole, but he's so hot!". But between his [[{{Bishonen}} good looks]] and his [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes awesome clothing]], [[http://i932.photobucket.com/albums/ad161/YoruZen/KHR/2-9.jpg who can blame them?]] (Image contains spoilers, of course). |
| 196 | ** Byakuran, who not only doesn't have a backstory other than how he got his powers, but he murdered anyone who got in the way of his goal, even tossing aside his own allies when he got bored of them. Yet the fans can still over look this because of his sweet tooth, cute smile and carefree attitude. |
| 197 | ** Fans still love Rokudo Mukurou even after learning about all the [[MindRape horrific]] [[BodySurf things]] he did in the past. |
| 198 | * Akio Ohtori, Touga Kiryuu and Ruka Tsuchiya from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' are varying shades of manipulative and sexist, but thanks to their mildly sympathetic qualities (Touga's backstory and feelings for Utena, Akio's [[spoiler:origins as Prince Dios, a truly good person]] and Ruka's feelings for Juri) and their [[{{Bishounen}} good looks]] their fanbases tend to sweep their behavior under the rug. Some even go so far as to ''blame the female characters'' they associate with for their behavior. |
| 199 | * Enishi Yukishiro from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' can sometimes be seen by fan(girl)s as this misunderstood little boy who only wanted his sister's love and wished for her to smile upon him no matter what. While one ''is'' certainly justified in being traumatized and scarred for life by his sister and mother figure's death, it doesn't quite excuse a lot of other stuff he did ''after'' his sister Tomoe died. For example, brutally slaughtering the kind family who took him in just because he couldn't stand their "happiness," becoming a crime lord in Shanghai, and selling weapons to known psychotic revolutionary [[SocialDarwinist Shishio]]. He did all of this so he could psychologically torment the sympathetic and almost saint-like Kenshin, who's tried to do his best ever since Tomoe's death to atone for his crimes and help others. |
| 200 | * Surprisingly in ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' fandom, the [[TheFightingNarcissist not nice]] Pisces Aphrodite and the [[PsychoforHire even less nicer]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Cancer Deathmask]] are very often portraited respectively as a [[CampGay Flamboyant]] [[MagicalQueer Gay of Wisdom]] and a [[BruiserWithASoftCenter loudmouth fighter with good feelings]]. The HoYay fanfics often portrait them also as a couple of SickeninglySweethearts. |
| 201 | * ''Anime/SailorMoon'''s Prince Dimande. Not only did he want to destroy Crystal Tokyo, but he abducted Usagi, changed her clothes while she was unconscious and forced a kiss on her. But of course, he's so pretty so people can't help excusing his behavior. |
| 202 | * ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo'' has the in-universe as well as fandom example of the ''the main character'', Demon Eyes Kyo, who is best known for slaughtering over 1000 people at the battle of Sekigahara. There's also EnsembleDarkhorse antagonist Hishigi, who garners plenty of sympathy due to his IronWoobie status and fandom admiration for his badass characteristics, but is still ''far'' from a pleasant or moral person in the source material itself. |
| 203 | * Surprisingly, ''[[MadScientist Kururu]]'' of ''Manga/SgtFrog'' gets this treatment from certain sections of {{Fandom}}. The anime added HoYay [[{{Subtext}} text]] with him constantly harassing and [[ShipTease tease-torturing]] Giroro, and fans [[{{Flanderization}} further exaggerated this]] into fluffy, cutesy lovings with a healthy side of MemeticMolester. |
| 204 | * In ''Literature/{{Shiki}}'', Tatsumi and to a lesser extent Megumi have their fans who will gloss over their bad qualities and treat them as objects of desire. Whole ''sides'' may be subjected to this as well, with some fans thinking the vampires have the right to kill people to eat without consequences and others thinking the humans have the right to slaughter the vampires in the most horrific ways possible, even when they're not aggressive or acting any differently from when they were alive. |
| 205 | * ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' : |
| 206 | ** He isn't treated as a villain in-story, but it's blatantly obvious, after TheReveal that Xellos is a sadistic and God-tier level demon incapable of feeling positive emotions ''at all''. This doesn't stop fans from making him [[FanPreferredCouple fall in love with]] [[HolierThanThou the preachy dragon Filia]], even though he's completely incapable of such thoughts. There's not much justification to your actions when you are probably the most powerful member of an AlwaysChaoticEvil race of demons short of the five Dark Lords under that world's equivalent of {{Satan}}. |
| 207 | ** To a lesser extent, Zelgadis. Yes, he's protective of his friends and mostly respects them, but he's still the only one who doesn't have any remorse when it comes to killing people, and his self-centeredness and sense of superiority is almost more infuriating than [[{{Greed}} Lina's]]. But no, he just ''has'' to be the ultimate [[TheWoobie woobie]] that can only be Xellos' bitch, and every single problem of his is Rezo's (or Amelia's, per DieForOurShip) fault... |
| 208 | * For a generation of young girls, there was Desslok / Dessler in ''Star Blazers [=/=] Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato''. Of course, it helps a lot that [[spoiler:he makes a HeelFaceTurn at the very end.]] |
| 209 | * Despite being responsible for the deaths of thousands of people for purely selfish reasons, the fans of Kayaba Akihiko from ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' insist that he's not evil due to his apathetic personality as opposed to the corrupt and over the top Sugou Nobuyuki and the sadistic Shinkawa Shouichi. It should be noted that it was Kayaba's machinations that allowed the other antagonists to pursue their goals. |
| 210 | * ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'': |
| 211 | ** [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Kish/Kisshu/Quiche]]. He starts out as a StalkerWithACrush who [[EstablishingCharacterMoment steals a kiss from Ichigo]], and becomes an increasingly disturbed and unstable {{Yandere}} as the series progresses, multiple times attempting to hug or straddle her, and deludes himself into thinking that Ichigo wants to be with him. Ignoring the fact Ichigo has a boyfriend and wants nothing to do with him. [[note]]Oh, and tries to kill the Mews and dozens upon dozens of InnocentBystanders, too. On multiple occasions.[[/note]] And yet his (absolutely ''massive'') fangirl following insists that his sympathetic backstory and [[spoiler:eventual HeelFaceTurn]] justifies his creepy stalker behavior, which was actually [[StalkingIsLove pure, chaste love, expressed in a slightly unorthodox manner.]] As for the multiple attempted murders, they are quickly sent to FanonDiscontinuity land in fanworks, with an exception of (extremely rare) darkfics. |
| 212 | ** Deep Blue. He is the leader of the Aliens, is very evil and sadistic, and in the final episode, [[spoiler:he tries to kill everyone in Tokyo. He even tries to choke Ichigo to death in the final battle, and it's implied that he was using the Aliens for his own ends]]. Yet for some odd reason, some of the fandom seems to pair Ichigo up with Deep Blue and make him a slightly sympathetic character. |
| 213 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': Despite technically being Kaneki's friend and ally, Tsukiyama could be considered one by some members of the fandom. Fans often play up his hammyness and shenanigans while ignoring the fact that [[spoiler:he's trying to eat Kaneki throughout the series]]. |
| 214 | ** Ayato could count as well, since fans often ignore the implications of him belonging to an organization that kills investigators in cold blood on a regular basis. |
| 215 | * In both the Anime and Manga of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', Legato has more than a touch of [[StrawNihilist nihilism]] and never does anything unconditionally good for anyone in the series (Yes, even the girl he gave the hot dog to. First, he used her to make a point. Second, popular fan theory and several clues from the manga hint that he is a [[IAmAHumanitarian cannibal]], meaning that the hot dog...). Even with the rather tragic FreudianExcuse from the manga, it's clear there isn't any good in him left. Despite all this he is easily the most popular character in the show among women and there is a mountain of {{Self Insert Fic}}s giving him (even more) tragic past where he hooked up with some random woman, and the loss of her was what turned him evil. |
| 216 | * ''Anime/{{Voltes V}}'': Sure, [[AlienPrincess Prince]] [[PeltsOfTheBarbarian Heinel]] may have invaded the Earth, committed several heinous crimes[[note]]In alphabetical order: animal abuse for religious rituals, attacking un-armed civilians, attacking refugees, blackmail, capital punishment, colonialism, conspiracy, forced imprisonment, forced labour, killing children, maltreating prisoners of war, slavery, taking hostages, torture and unethical experimentation[[/note]], attacked and imprisoned his own comrades, and [[TheUnfettered fights to uphold]] a FantasticCasteSystem where anyone who isn't a [[HornedHumanoid Horned]] [[AliensAreBastards Boazanian]] is meant to live as a slave...but he's also a [[LongHairedPrettyBoy blonde Bishounen]] who wears a [[PrettyInMink gorgeous blue mink coat]] and has a [[DarkAndTroubledPast tragic backstory]]. For a character in a mecha anime, he looks ridiculously shoujo[[note]]Design-wise, Creator/TakarazukaRevue served as one of his inspirations[[/note]]. As a result many fanfictions and fanart portray him as a sympathetic victim and pin the blame on his EvilUncle for ordering him to invade the Earth[[note]]Which isn't exactly far off from the truth, but it doesn't absolve Heinel of his actions since he chose to follow his orders in the name of "honour"[[/note]]. The 2023 Philippine [[Series/VoltesVLegacy Live-Action Adaptation]] [[HotterAndSexier indulges]] many a fangirl and features [[spoiler: a sex scene between Heinel and his ImpliedLoveInterest, Katherine, complete with showing his [[CarpetOfVirility hairy chest]].[[note]]In contrast, Heinel and Katherine in the original anime had a TragicRomance, and he only realized he loved her after she died protecting him.[[/note]]]] |
| 217 | * Prince Lotor from ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' gets this a lot, mainly from the western fandom thanks to the {{Bowdleri|se}}zation he received in the dub. ''Golion'' Lotor is a deeply cruel, sick person and even his rare PetTheDog moments have creepy undertones to them (for instance, his attraction to the princesses is because ''[[ParentalIncest they remind him of his mom]]''). Censorship required that a lot of his worst acts get edited out and the purely original third season [[AdaptationPersonalityChange portrayed him as a conflicted person instead of a sadistic jerk]]. |
| 218 | ** The [[WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender later western adaptation]] gave this a bit of a nod by depicting Lotor as a ManipulativeBastard who only pretends to be the sort of noble AntiVillain his defenders frequently portray him as. |
| 219 | * The four members of Schwarz in ''Anime/WeissKreuz'' serve as the protagonists' {{Evil Counterpart}}s and spend most of their time unrepentantly organizing mass murder and social chaos when they're not tormenting the main characters or, in the case of one member, torturing priests to death for fun; but somehow, they manage to have as large a fan following as the series' protagonists. |
| 220 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh'': |
| 221 | ** Seto Kaiba [[BystanderSyndrome doesn't care about anything bad that happens around him]], even if it happens under his jurisdiction (see: Mai, Jou and Rishid falling into near death situations during the Battle City finals), unless he or his [[MoralityPet little brother Mokuba]] are targeted. He has a lot of KickTheDog moments (including giving Yugi's Grandfather a heart attack at one point), but his fans will overlook, forgive, and rationalize those things in light of his [[TroubledButCute past]] and his [[PetTheDog protectiveness of Mokuba]]. Especially because they're attracted to his [[DeadpanSnarker one-liners]] and [[TallDarkAndHandsome good looks]], and love [[BadassBookworm that he's a top ranked duelist, gaming industrialist, inventor of related technology, and one of the most physically imposing characters on the show. He can even beat up thugs with the fling of a card]]. Heaven forbid that anyone else try to hold Kaiba accountable for things, [[RonTheDeathEater even if it's justifiably coming from one of the protagonists]]. The biggest points of contention tend to be Anzu [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech telling Kaiba off for threatening suicide to win]] and Atem pointing out Kaiba's competitive focus on strength and independence cost him victory after their Battle City duel, even though both are vindicated by the narrative itself. Heck, his collection of [[PowerEqualsRarity rare and]] [[BiggerStick powerful cards]] is enough to make many fans squee. Others overlook that it's because of these cards that he has the immediate advantage over Yugi; they claim Kaiba is the real champion and Yugi a lucky cheat, and that [[NotBadassEnoughForFans Yugi and his gang are pansies]].) And those who do think that Yugi is a lucky cheat obviously [[{{Hypocrite}} disregard the time that Kaiba summoned all three copies of Blue-Eyes and Hyozanryu on his first turn, and Obelisk on his second, not to mention the time he literally threatened to kill himself to make Yugi surrender, or the time in the manga where he cheated by putting Blue Eyes on the top of his deck (or even the chess game he cheated in to beat Gozaburo).]] Some fans will excuse basically anything he does [[{{Hypocrite}} because of the abuse he suffered as a child, whilst ignoring the fact that he went on to abuse Mokuba for a substantial period of time in the manga.]] Of course, maybe the people who say he has a soft spot for his brother do, indeed, have something... After all, the sole reason he decided to help Yugi in the FinalBattle against Marik was because, at that point, ''[[HeelRealization even Mokuba had become disgusted with him.]]'' |
| 222 | *** To make this even worse, a few of Kaiba's ''cards'' that were designed with the intent to make him look like an asshole have become Dracos in Leather Pant themselves. The [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Crush_Card_Virus Crush Card Virus]] is an excellent example, a ''horribly'' broken card that he used frequently, and while the OCG/TCG version was considerably nerfed, it was still incredibly broken. Nonetheless, no sooner was it available for TCG release than it became one of the most sought after cards in the game, and one of the biggest cases of PowerCreep as players found ways to make it far ''more'' broken than it was. The card was outlawed eventually (many players say not soon enough) and players who objected to the ban never seemed to understand that when Kaiba first obtained this card, he was [[BribingYourWayToVictory Bribing His Way To Victory]], and shouldn't have been admired for it. |
| 223 | *** In the manga version of Battle City (a tournament sponsored and hosted by Kaiba Corporation), Raigeki is one of the cards included in Ban List during the tournament. While banning Raigeki seems like a wise decision from Seto Kaiba, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive allowing Crush Card to give himself advantage just because he is the CEO of Kaiba Corporation]] [[{{Hypocrite}} is the legitimate sign of hypocrisy]]. |
| 224 | ** Yami Yugi has also been subject to the treatment in light of his KnightTemplar tendencies. He [[CharacterDevelopment becomes kinder over time]], and some of his more ruthless deeds are absent in the Duel Monsters anime; but he's still ruthless early on in the manga. |
| 225 | *** Possibly a result of the leather outfit, badass dark powers, and backstory that has plenty of angst potential due to the death/entrapment/identity crisis triple threat. |
| 226 | ** On the villain side, we have Yami Bakura and Yami Marik. Yami Bakura pulls off one brilliant series-spanning GambitRoulette, but he gets too much focus amongst certain fans for being a WhiteHairBlackHeart type. Worse is the fandom for completely evil Yami Marik; a few even cheered when he [[MindRape gave poor Mai the dark penalty at the end of the duel.]] |
| 227 | *** Regular Marik isn't immune to this, either. He does have a sympathetic backstory, and he eventually goes through DefeatMeansFriendship, but the fandom tends to ignore even the stuff that happened before aforementioned defeat, and claim that he'd be 100% good if not for Dark Marik. In the series proper, Marik, entirely without his SplitPersonality, had no problem with killing his own men or uninvolved innocents if it meant getting his revenge on Dark Yugi. |
| 228 | ** Valon has gotten this from fans who felt that he cared more about Mai than Joey did, just because he cancelled the duel between the two when the former was on the verge of losing, and believed that Joey cared more about dueling, even though in reality, he was the one who wanted to save Mai even if it meant her soul temporarily being lost, and that he originally intended to forfeit the duel to spare her. Guys, you can't do what you don't have the means to, and Valon specifically had what he needed to cancel the duel. Worse, they viewed Mai as an UngratefulBastard who Valon was too good for, even though he was partly responsible for her giving in to the Orichalcos in the first place, and was in a {{Yandere}} state. Granted, this was all under the effect of the seal, but still. |
| 229 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' has a minor ''in-canon'' (and borderline fandom) example with Edo Phoenix from before he dropped his WellIntentionedExtremist ways, and a major example with Hell Kaiser Ryo during season 2. Even when he [[KickTheDog mercilessly beat his little brother Sho in a shock duel and walked away]], the fandom squeed over how badass and TallDarkAndHandsome he was. Big time. |
| 230 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' : |
| 231 | ** Jack Atlas went through a phase of Draco-dom when he was his bad self during the initial arc. Fans not only admired him for it, they encouraged it, and felt that Yusei and his friends [[RonTheDeathEater were just weaklings, if not the ones at fault]]. The fans seemed to forget that Jack got to his current position by being a traitor, a thief, and almost a murderer. A case of MemeticBadass taken too far. |
| 232 | ** Aki Izayoi is something of a double case. When the (rare non-yaoi) fangirls saw her in the opening credits, they instantly assumed she'd be TheHeart and proceeded to pair her up with Yusei, which persisted throughout the first few seasons even after the character was revealed to be a BlessedWithSuck SplitPersonality [[AxCrazy borderline sadistic]] DarkMagicalGirl. When her {{angst}}y backstory was revealed and she underwent a complete personality flip into a character exactly like the one in the fanart (complete with getting StrangledByTheRedString with Yusei), [[WeWantOurJerkBack the fans near-universally demanded the old villainous Aki back]]. |
| 233 | ** A more straightforward example would be Divine. He runs a school for Psychic Duelists just so he can raise them into an army he can use to take over the world based on the supposed prejudice he suffered. While appearing to the world as a [[ComicBook/XMen Professor X]]-like figure, he also [[ElectricTorture tortures]] all of the recruits to test their powers and kills them if they are not strong enough for him to use. This included [[spoiler:Misty�s little brother Tobi which led to her death and rebirth as a Dark Signer.]] All the while he was [[MoreThanMindControl manipulating Aki into being completely loyal to him while turning her into a monster and pretending to care for her.]] He also has multiple events that could easily be considered crossing the MoralEventHorizon such as torturing Rua in a duel, [[spoiler:killing Carly by throwing her out of a skyscraper window when he caught her snooping around in his office]] and trying to drown Yusei and Mikage. He is the most purely evil character in the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' franchise that is not an EldritchAbomination, insane, MadeOfEvil, or a several-thousand-year-old spirit of vengeance. However, fangirls like to ignore all of that and focus on his MindGameShip with Aki instead. |
| 234 | * Kaito from ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' is an odd case. Fans often side with him over Yuma, claiming he's a better duelist with better cards, despite the fact that Kaito was a cold, uncaring {{Jerkass}} at times who was willing to take the souls of his opponents to meet his goals, which was morally wrong, [[WellIntentionedExtremist however noble those goals may have been.]] |
| 235 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' has a few: |
| 236 | ** Shingo Sawatari. Despite the fact that his early methods are similar to the early manga version of [[Manga/YuGiOh Seto Kaiba]], he is a ButtMonkey in this series and is too funny to despise. Also, as an {{Expy}} of [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Jun Manjoume]]/[[DubNameChange Chazz Princeton.]] most fans predict that he's going to become a good guy anyway. Not to mention that his father seems to be a neglectful parent and is in fact a grade A {{Jerkass}}, cast some fan sympathy on him. His return in episode 49 cemented his turn to becoming a mostly decent guy. |
| 237 | ** Serena had some of this due to being [[spoiler:the dimensional counterpart of Yuzu, and she is already claimed by some to be the best girl, despite the fact that she is a {{Jerkass}} who sealed Hokuto in a card, is every bit as bigoted against Xyz duelists as her colleagues from Academia, and is rude to Reiji and her bodyguard, Barrett. Fortunately, later episodes have shown that she isn't a complete {{jerkass}} and has been indoctrinated into thinking Academia was noble, not realizing that they were intentionally harming and hunting innocents in the Xyz Dimension invasion.]] |
| 238 | ** Shun Kurosaki. People admire him for his efforts to save his sister and comrades, sometimes completely forgetting how he ruthlessly turned at least FIVE absolutely innocent people into cards, not caring much if they also had family and friends whose lives he probably ruined. Also, he had no problems doing it to the LDS Trio, if Reiji hadn't intervened. |
| 239 | ** There's a significant swathe of the fandom that absolutely refuses to believe Dennis to be [[spoiler: a bad guy, despite the fact that he works happily with the psychotic Yuri, he let Halil and Olga be carded without a care, and it's pretty clear that his prior niceness was a facade. He has shown some shades of BecomingTheMask in the form of concern for Gongenzaka, but whether it will stick has yet to be seen.]] Some of these have dropped their opinion since episode 74. |
| 240 | ** Well, BigBad [[spoiler:Zarc]] has an interesting case of this. At first, he was rather popular due to the intrigue that surrounded him due to being [[spoiler:the Dragon Boy's original form]] and the cause of Yuya's Awaken ability. But when 136 came out and [[spoiler:Zarc was revived to be a rather ugly dragon-human hybrid instead of his original form,]] plenty of fans hated him. But once episode 139 revealed his good looking human face, the same fans did a 180 turn and sympathized with him. |
| 241 | * Two in ''Anime/YuGiOhVrains''. |
| 242 | ** Revolver is meant to be a complex, morally grey character, like most of the characters in the show. While he is ultimately supposed to [[VillainHasAPoint have a point]] on the dangers of the Ignis, he still commits many awful terrorist acts in order to achieve his goals, especially with the Tower of Hanoi, and openly admits to regretting having saved the Lost Incident kids as a child because of how it led to his father being put in a coma. However, because of his pretty looks, sympathetic backstory, and general coolness, many fans like to ignore or downplay his crimes, often excusing it by saying that he was only doing it for his father’s attention. |
| 243 | ** In canon, Spectre is the TokenEvilTeammate who is hiding a cruel and sadistic personality under his FauxAffablyEvil demeanor, and loves giving cruel {{Breaking Speech}}es to his enemies; the battle with Blue Angel being the best example. Many fans gloss over his negative traits in favor of his [[UsedToBeASweetKid sympathetic backstory]], [[EvilIsCool his awesome duels]] and often portrayed him as an AffablyEvil person or even a BigBrotherMentor to the other lost incident victims in fanworks. |
| 244 | * ''Anime/ZoidsChaoticCentury'': Raven has a [[FreudianExcuse tragic backstory]] and [[HeelFaceTurn mellows out somewhat]] towards the end of the series, but this doesn't change the fact that he's a jingoistic, bloodthirsty killer who has murdered dozens of innocent soldiers in cold blood (even those on his own side!) and attempted a genocide of an entire sentient species, even if said species happens to be mechanical. In classic Draco In Leather Pants fashion, Raven's fans downplay his genocidal tendencies in favour of playing him up as some kind woobie. |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 |
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