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1* ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'': In ''Side:Hope'', after spending the entire second game and the prequel [[spoiler:trying to woo Sonia, Soda finally manages to get her attention by taking out one of Mitarai's EliteMooks.]]
2* In ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'', Nobita is the local loser and lowest end of the bully chain. He was also destined to marry Gianko, Gian's (the local bully) little sister who is deemed to be much below average in both looks and heart, and go bankrupt with a debt that lasts for 300 years even after his death. His life remains pretty bad for him as the butt monkey, but within the series, the future was somehow changed without anyone noticing to where he gets to marry his ideal dream girl, Shizuka, and lead a middle-class life. Not only did the future change, the characters who had the knowledge to travel to the future also just talked as if he was destined to marry Shizuka from the beginning. (The actual events where he captures the heart of Shizuka [[spoiler: with his stupidity making her think that he cannot even survive without her taking care of him]] was only shown after the change AND it was stressed that he went there because he knew that it was that important to look at the event (and to his surprise that his future self got ill and can't participate in it). Probably the best moment of his life other than getting a robot cat from his future grandson as his best friend that made it all happen.
3* Sky-Byte, the IneffectualSympatheticVillain of ''Anime/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'', suffered countless humiliations at the hands of both his boss and fellow EnsembleDarkhorse Scourge. Before long, it became increasingly clear that Sky-Byte [[MinionWithAnFInEvil was meant for greater things]], which was likely why, he gets left on Earth while his companions get imprisoned. WordOfGod [[http://web.archive.org/web/20120829000826/http://www.hasbro.com/transformers/en_US/discover/news/TRANSFORMERS-HALL-OF-FAME-2012-Nominee-SKY-BYTE.cfm claims]] that he's [[RedemptionPromotion retaken his Level in Badass]] and now spends his time attacking illegal fishing vessels. He even gets the last line of the show.
4--> Who's the coolest shark around? Who's the smartest shark in town? Sky-Byte, that's me! Ha ha ha!
5* In both versions of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[{{Determinator}} Vash]] finally gets [[BigBad Knives]] to cut the crap after a ''very long time.''
6* Viral of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is a victim of TheWorfEffect instead of TheChewToy, but the effect is still the same when, after a constant string of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Dai-Gurren Brigade, he [[spoiler:pilots Gurren-Lagann with Simon]] and destroys an entire army ''by the sheer awesomeness of his presence''.
7* In the long run, things do improve for Haré in ''Anime/HareGuu'', a good example being the 23rd episode.
8* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' had Jeremiah Gottwald, who lost his rank, dignity, and honor after being Geassed by Lelouch, then was crippled trying to redeem himself while fighting against Lelouch, and then [[spoiler:was resurrected as a super-strong bulletproof cyborg, ''[[HeelFaceTurn willingly joined Lelouch]]'', became his dignified retainer, and might even have a romantic involvement with another of Lelouch's retainers, the beautiful NinjaMaid Sayoko.]] And in the end... [[spoiler: Not only he survives and plays quite the role in the final battle, but he's given a nice and quiet life in the countryside (orange farm included) and an adoptive daughter of sorts in Anya.]]
9* For the first part of ''Literature/MagiciansAcademy'', Metallis was the designated ChewToy. Then he falls in love with Suzuka and, even if he has to find a way to be around her that won't [[AntiMagic sap him of his power]], nothing really bad comes his way again. Whatever the universe had against him is transferred to his former sidekick, George.
10* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji spends the whole series thinking of himself as worthless and unworthy of defending the Earth, largely due to his nasty relationship with his father his whole life. The final two episodes are one huge MindScrew where he retreats inside his mind after being forced to kill his new [[strike:[[HoYay boy]]]]friend, and slowly comes to realize his relationship with his father is not his fault at all, and he does deserve to be happy. He then finds himself in a pastoral landscape where everyone, including his father, congratulates him on his epiphany. At least, that's one way to interpret what the hell's going on in those episodes.
11** [[spoiler:Then ''End of Evangelion'' yanks it, horrendously.]]
12*** [[spoiler: Not really. End of Evangelion is more of an EarnYourHappyEnding counterpart to the TV series' BittersweetEnding; Shinji goes through a bit more hell, but he gets to spend quite a bit of time with Asuka, and it's strongly implied, if not outright stated, that everyone else can come BackFromTheDead.]]
13*** Not within the show but [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha the Alpha series]] threw him a very big one, complete with a BFS. Helps that he's got SuperRobot [[HotBlooded pilots]] to model after.
14** A less-mind-screwy example for Shinji came in the series, where he lead an assault that stopped a particularly-large angel from destroying Tokyo-3 and NERV. Upon reading the report, and learning how Shinji was by-and-large the person responsible for the day's rescue, Gendo tells him "Good work, Shinji." It's very brief, and done by "Sound Only" video screen, but means the world to a WellDoneSonGuy.
15** A similarly less-mind-screwy example is from the episode where they defeat the angel that was found in a volcano. After they've completed the mission, we briefly get to see Shinji relaxing in the hot-springs afterwards. In the English dub he even says, "this feels like Heaven..." with an almost goofy-looking grin plastered across his face. It's hard not to feel happy for him in the warm-fuzzies sense for that one brief moment. [[YankTheDogsChain Too bad it doesn't last for him]].
16** Another great example is Asuka. [[spoiler: After descending into a downward spiral for the entire course of the series, at the End of Evangelion, she finally learns that her mother really did love her, and decides to kick some ass! Of course, things sorta balance themselves out after awhile...]]
17* [[BreakTheCutie After over 200 years of hell and the epic shitstorm that was the Flying Pussyfoot massacre]], ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'''s [[TheWoobie Czeslaw Meyer]] finally gets a break when [[spoiler:he is rescued by Isaac and Miria, who subsequently adopt him into their group of TrueCompanions, and is reunited with Maiza]].
18* After several episodes of Garu being forced to endure Animation/{{Pucca}}'s romance, one episode has Pucca accidentally giving Garu the power of astral projection, for once ending the episode with an unhappy Pucca and a happy Garu.
19* On ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', Sakaki spends a good portion of the show having trouble making friends because others see her as intimidating, and constantly being bitten by cats whenever she tries to pet them. Eventually, the others (mainly Chiyo) see the real her, and not only does she befriend a wild cat, but it eventually defends her from the cat which traditionally menaced her.
20%%* ''Anime/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime'' eventually gets her hug.
21* The man in the back of the Ark in ''Manga/NatsuNoArashi'' spends the entire series asking for salt, and never getting it. In the final episode of the second season, Arashi casually places a shaker of salt on his table. While she didn't know it, that was probably the greatest moment of his life.
22* In ''Manga/DragonBall'' something nice would occasionally happen to Yamcha the Chief ButtMonkey[=/=]TheWorfEffect character. Strongly averted in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' to the point of DesignatedMonkey. Except in a filler where he is in King Kai's planet and ''beats Recoome''. Who had humiliated Vegeta beforehand.
23** Finally played straight in a {{filler}} episode of Anime/DragonBallSuper where [[MythologyGag Yamcha coaches a baseball team]] against Universe 6 and not only is he the one person who knows what he's doing, but he also manages to score the winning (and only) point of the game...even if, he ends up recreating his infamously humiliating death pose (non-fatally) in the process.
24** Krillin the lesser ButtMonkey in the Dragon Ball anime does actually get a bone in ''Z''. The man dies three times (four if you count GT), and gets his head handed to on a regular basis. He's vastly outclassed by the Saiyans and to a lesser extent, Piccolo, and is routinely made fun of for his [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged Owned Count.]] Despite this, he managed to come through and save the day on several occasions-- he oneshotted most of the saibamen, he came extremely close to killing Nappa and Vegeta, he played a critical role in foiling the bad guys' plans on Namek until Goku arrived, he sliced off part of Frieza's tail, saving Gohan's life in the process, and [[EarnYourHappyEnding he gets to marry Android #18 in the end.]] In the Abridged series, that last one actually ''decreases'' his Owned Count.
25** [[FakeUltimateHero Mr. Satan]], from his very first introduction, is treated as one of the weakest fighters in ''Z'' (even weaker than ''Yamcha'', because at least Yamcha can use KiManipulation and fly.) Even his own ''daughter'' is stronger than him. However, he ends up ultimately saving the day on multiple occasions; He risks his life to deliver Android 16's severed head to Gohan so that he can give him the pep talk he needs to go Super Saiyan 2 against Cell, he redeems Majin Buu when no one was able to defeat him, and convinces the entire Earth to lend Goku their energy for a Spirit Bomb to defeat Kid Buu.
26** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', [[spoiler:after years of training [[TheRival Vegeta]] finally achieved his dream of [[CantCatchUp surpassing Goku]], with Broly and Lemo crying manly tears of joy alongside the audience]].
27* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
28** James tends to enter a lot of [[{{Filler}} minor competitions]], and usually declines or outright tells off Jessie and Meowth's idea of "assistance." Most of the time [[YankTheDogsChain it doesn't end well]]. [[https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Off_the_Unbeaten_Path Sometimes]] it does.
29** In "Borrowing on Bad Faith", after saving Ash's Aipom, Jessie asks to use it in a contest. Not only does she get permission, she ends up ''winning'' the whole thing. They're so unused to winning that when they "steal" the prize, James laughs that the heroes are too stunned to chase after them, not realizing they won the prize (a large amount of fruit) fair and square and gave them no reason to try and get it back.
30** A major bone gets thrown in the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon Sun & Moon]]'' series when Ash, after six consecutive failures and disappointments in the League Conference (not counting the [[{{Filler}} anime-original Orange League]]), [[BrokenWinLossStreak finally]] becomes the regional champion in the Alola League, ''and'' the first person in history to hold that title in the region to boot, [[LongRunner over 22 years into the anime's run]]. He's so used to losing, in fact, that it takes roughly a minute to finally dawn on him that he actually won a League for the first time in his life. Another bone is thrown when Ash then wins the promised exhibition match with Professor Kukui even after Tapu Koko appears and forcefully inserts itself into the match as Kukui’s last Pokémon.
31** Several major ones also get tossed his way in ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'' where he manages to defeat several of the world's best Trainers [[spoiler:and gets crowned [[WorldsBestWarrior the very best, like no one ever was]]]].
32* ''Manga/OnePiece'''s Sanji has endured a great deal of suffering due to being the Straw Hats' resident [[TheChewToy Chew Toy]]. Not content to make him a ChivalrousPervert who generally lucks out with women, Oda's killed his fantasies of mermaids with Kokoro, a fat old lady mermaid; dashed his dreams of getting a bounty with a [[FacialCompositeFailure horribly drawn Wanted Poster]]; stole his hope to exploit the PowerPerversionPotential of invisibility through a villain with a one-of-a-kind invisibility Devil Fruit; and, finally, he was stuck on an island of absolutely [[{{Gonk}} hideous]] transvestites for two years, where he was briefly forced to go native. However, with the crew's arrival at Fishman Island, Sanji has finally gotten to meet real life, ''attractive'' mermaids, and they ''like'' him. Granted, the {{nosebleed}} that eventually resulted nearly kills him, but for him it was WorthIt. Then he met their [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman princess]] and [[spoiler: got cured, being able to hit on her with no problems]]. [[AccidentalInnuendo The biggest bone ever]], people! Plus, in Punk Hazard Law puts his heart in Nami's body and Sanji can't resist the urge to peep at or feel him/herself up. And ''then'', after his perversion backfires a few more times, he [[spoiler:actually makes a woman, Charlotte Pudding, fall in love with him.]] His luck changes for the better since then.
33* [[NoSenseOfDirection Ryoga]], the resident [[TheWoobie woobie]] of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', was given one of these when his virtually perfectly suited and accepting girlfriend Akari showed up near the end of the series.
34* After thirteen episodes of being Sternbild's ChewToy, things start looking up for Kotetsu/Wild Tiger in the fourteenth episode of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': he manages to finish the season fourth in the rankings, people start treating him as Barnaby's equal instead of his sidekick, his boss stops acting like a total dick towards him, and [[spoiler:he seems to have gotten an unexpected power boost]]. Of course, given the ominous foreshadowing of [[spoiler:said power upgrade]] and the fact that there's still another twelve episodes to go, [[YankTheDogsChain his luck probably won't last long]]...
35* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': {{Manga}} only: [[spoiler:Homura finally reunites with Madoka in some kind of afterlife. The anime however, condemn her to walking the earth for a long, long time, with no guarantee to ever see Madoka again]].
36** [[spoiler: Madoka's [[CosmicRetcon reality changing wish to remove witches from all existence]] gives the Sayaka's of the timelines where she contracted to become a magical girl and witches out a bone because by WordOfGod if Sayaka contracts then she is [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption doomed to die by becoming a witch or some other means if she doesn't witch out]]. This is shown in the anime by allowing a Sayaka in the new timeline/universe to watch the reason she contracts be happy and then disappear or, in the Manga ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'', where she is AdaptationalBadass to compensate.]]
37* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', Romano constantly feels like he's the {{Unfavorite}}, compared to his more talented, likable brother Italy. In the 2010 Bloodbath, [[spoiler:he finally gets a chance to stand out, when he turns out to have the mark on his chest that everyone was searching for and thus is able to help save the day.]]
38* Jagi in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is a villain with a FreudianExcuse and committed numerous depraved and sadistic acts in the original series. He got what was coming to him. However, in the non-serious and nonsensical ''[[Anime/DDFistOfTheNorthStar DD Hokuto No Ken]],'' he is the forgotten brother of the IdiotHero trio of Kenshiro, Toki, and Raoh, and when he ''does'' appear, it's always to be randomly abused as he tries to eke out a living on the street next to the convenience store central to the show. Even here, he gets beaten up, kicked around, rendered bald, and got impaled on Souther's throne once. He's surprisingly placid, pitifully weak, and serves mostly as a punchline for the show--however, he finally gets a chance to be recognized and accepted in episode eight of the 2013 show in one of the more touching endings present in a GagSeries. (MoodWhiplash destroys this [[PlayedForLaughs for comedy]] during TheStinger.)
39* ''Manga/FairyTail'' had this in its prequel, ''Manga/FairyTailZero'', when [[BigBad Zeref]] meets [[BigGood Mavis]] for the first time. At the time, Zeref was a [[DeathSeeker Death-Seeking]], self-loathing WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds who was forced to become TheAloner because his magic spontaneously kills anyone and everything around him. Mavis, seeing how absolutely miserable he was, used her Illusion Magic to let him pet some animals without them dying. Zeref was so moved by the experience that he [[spoiler:agreed to teach her and Fairy Tail's other founding members the magic they needed to defeat a dark guild, essentially meaning the guild owes its entire existence to him. Zeref even admitted in the narrations at the end of the chapter that it was [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness out of character]] for him to willingly interact with others, especially in a way like that, but said that doing so remains his most precious memory to this day.]]
40* ''[[Franchise/{{Patlabor}} Patlabor: The Mobile Police]]'': In every iteration of the series, Captain Gotoh finds himself [[HopelessSuitor permanently friend-zoned]] by fellow his Captain, [[DeadpanSnarker Shinobu Nagomu]]. But he finally gets a break in the [[Series/{{Ultraman}} Ingram-man episode]], which ends with them becoming an OfficialCouple. Too bad it was AllJustADream.
41* Zongeh in ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' is a Gourmet Hunter with a SmallNameBigEgo whose ambitions are beyond his ability. The main characters never even remember his name, calling him "Zombie" (or, if they can't do that, name random zombie ''movies'' instead). He gets his moment when the Gourmet Hunters are after Surprise Apples, which taste better the more they're surprised by something. In frustration over initial failure, Zonge farts on them, which consistently surprises them to levels beyond what anyone else accomplished that day.
42* In chapter 17 of ''Manga/DontBecomeAnOtakuShinozakiSan'', Akina gets to show off her skills as TheFashionista to her otaku friends without once becoming the butt of a joke when Kaede needs to go clothes shopping. This is something she's desperately wanted to do since first befriending Kaede and Micchy, but which they showed little interest in.
43* Crona, in the anime of ''Manga/SoulEater'', after enduring a life of both mental and physical torture as the guinea pig/Tykebomb of the kid's [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] bitch of a mother [[spoiler: gets a brief respite before being manipulated into joining her again. By story's end however, Crona [[EarnYourHappyEnding earns a happy ending]] after finally turning against her and nearly dying to save the heroine. The last shots of them are some refreshing (albeit humorous) bits of hanging out with their new friends.]]
44* In ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', Ataru is unlucky but he wins the presidency of his class against Mendou, and once he is kissed by Ran (the kiss is supposed to be bad for him, but it doesn't work).

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