[[Comicbook/TheAvengers http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/93935-198408-hank-pym_super.jpg]]
[[caption-width:340:A Drug-Addled Hank Pym makes his career-defining (for the lazy) move.]]

->''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma]] [[{{Premiere}} Arrives]]: Ranma arrives. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Surprising, huh?]] "[[AccidentalPervert You're a\\
pervert!]]" said [[{{Tsundere}} Akane]], [[NeverLiveItDown inadvertently]] setting her [[{{Fanon}} fanfic]]\\
[[CharacterExaggeration characterisation]] [[RuinedFOREVER for all time]].''
-->'''[[http://www.bladeandepsilon.com/rfpwsas.txt Ranma 1/2 For People With Short Attention Spans]]'''

It seems many people have the tendency to take some characters and narrowly define them based on one action or event, often to the exclusion of other, often more important, actions of that character.

Often, this is perfectly understandable, if that action or event stands out more than anything else the character did. But just as often it doesn't, and it can seem as if some people [[DidNotDoTheResearch just haven't been paying attention]].

Let's take a hypothetical show ''[[AliceAndBob Bob Loves Alice]]''. There is a fan favorite episode where Bob gets caught up in a game of darts. He isn't that good, and he never really tries darts again.

A bunch of fans like that episode enough that, in loads of FanFiction, Bob sucking at darts is his defining characteristic and it's what everyone knows him for, when in actual {{Canon}}, it's never really mentioned.

In short, it's like {{Flanderization}}, but instead of actually making the character like that, everyone just ''thinks'' the character is like that.

Sounds silly, but it's all too real.

This can also turn even worse when those fans start RunningTheAsylum in that show's later seasons, and now everyone on the show talks about how Bob sucks at darts, while ignoring all the other things Bob has done since then. But you never see Bob playing darts, because surely we've seen enough of that.

No, we haven't. We've seen it once. And since this is placing all of Bob's more prominent traits and events behind this minor one, it even risks taking away a dimension of CharacterDepth.

DieForOurShip victims are a subset of this, best remembered for being the ones that got in the way of a lot of people's {{OTP}}s.

Compare {{Flanderization}}, DidNotDoTheResearch, DeadUnicornTrope, InkStainAdaptation, PlotTumor, StillTheEighties, IAmNotSpock, NakedSally.

RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun seems like this, but it merely harks back to a character's CrowningMomentOfAwesome, not pretend that's all the character does. Also related is OneSceneWonder, where a small guest star starts to dominate FanFic.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Bright Noa, the only character to be a main character in ''MobileSuitGundam'', ''ZetaGundam'', ''GundamZZ'', and ''CharsCounterattack'' is best known not for being a main character in so many series, but for hitting his crew members. Fandom loves to cite how much Bright slaps people for very little reason. Interestingly, [[MemeticMutation Brightslaps]] are ''well'' received by the fandom, who tend to credit him for turning [[{{Wangst}} whiners]] into [[{{Badass}} MEN OF DESTINY]].
** Even ''SuperRobotWars'' gets in on the joke, where he regularly kocks some [[{{Badass}} badassery]] into such pilots as ''[[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]]''.
** Similarly, Dozle Zabi only says "Once the Big Zam is mass produced..." ''once''. And its one of the most memorable lines in the series. Same applies to "This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!!!"
** [[GundamX Olba Frost]] has a great deal of hatedom due to ''one'' episode where he became furious at the heroes for hurting his brother. Never mind his big brother got injured [[TakingTheBullet taking an attack for him]]. Never mind [[DarkAndTroubledPast they've gone through so much hell]] that they only have each other for emotional support. Never mind for the ''rest of the series'' he's a perfectly calm and composed person. Never mind [[WellDoneSonGuy he wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his brother]] and stand on his own two feet. Nope, he's a sniveling male {{Yandere}}, through and through.
* Sasuke Uchiha from ''{{Naruto}}'' has haters who claim he was always an impossibly huge JerkAss, instead of just aloof and somewhat rude, and that this was mostly in response to Naruto and Sakura usually when they were ''genuinely irritating him''. For example, many are quick to cite all the times that he's put down Naruto, but forget that Naruto is the same way towards him and much louder about it.
** Also from Naruto is Sai. He asked Naruto once when they first met if Naruto had male genitalia, as an insult no less. But from the way to fans talk you'd think every other word out of Sai's mouth is penis, even as he runs around brandishing a measuring tape.
*** He brought up Naruto's genitals four more times in the same arc, but none after his HeelFaceTurn and opening up to Naruto (once again support that, he ''did'' know what it meant and was just insulting him), making this a recurring, but exaggerated habit.
** The fandom also tends to exaggerate Hinata's fainting spells despite the fact that she only fainted once in the manga. It doesn't help that she is [[CharacterExaggeration more prone to fainting in the anime]].
* The title character of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' has a tendency to take DefeatMeansFriendship to [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill ridiculous levels of excess]], and many fans act as if she's truly [[BloodKnight looking for excuses to blow people up]]. However, the reason she's so quick to attack is because [[StunGuns her weapons are incapable of killing people]].
*** Ironically, the only character DefeatMeansFriendship was played straight for was Fate and the only other character it was used for, if played with in this example, was Vita. The fandom would have you think that she beats the crap out of all of her friends despite befriending Yuuno, Chrono, Amy, Arisa (arguably not a DefeatMeansFriendship), Suzuka, Hayate, among others without being locked in battle.
** Hayate's CosplayOtakuGirl tendencies are also subject to a great deal of exaggeration, based off her designing the Wolkenritters' barrier jackets in a deliberate attempt to make "knight-like clothing".
** Shamal's LethalChef tendencies tend to get exaggerated in fan works, despite Hayate suggesting in the first A's sound stage that her cooking has improved significantly and the Wolkenritter conceding that it's not as good as what Hayate makes, but it's "not bad." (It doesn't help that the other Wolkenritter like to remind her about her mistakes).
* Every member of the primary cast of ''GundamWing'' has at least one minor trait or famous moment that ended up being their standard fanfic portrayal. Heero's subdued emotions and early self-loathing have made people think he's an [[TheStoic emotionless]] {{Emo}} ([[LogicBomb wha?!]]), Wu Fei's arrogance and ''one'' single instance of calling a ''woman he didn't know'' [[HeyYou "Woman"]] make him a [[HeManWomanHater psychopathic misogynist]]...
** Heero's also characterized as constantly trying to self-destruct his Gundam. Actually, when he did that in the TV series, [[spoiler: he was facing an ultimatum to either hand over his Gundam or have the colonies' inhabitants slaughtered, and chose to TakeAThirdOption through HeroicSacrifice.]]
** Relena only yelled Heero's name out loud ''thrice'' in the series. People bash her as if she finished ''every'' episode with a SayMyName scream.
** In all honesty, Wu Fei IS a misogynist. But this says more about [[ValuesDissonance ancient Chinese culture]] than the character, who was raised among it.
* If ''{{Zoids}}'' fanfiction were to be believed, one would think Bit and Leena were ''constantly'' stealing each other's snacks, but it's only happened maybe once or twice on the actual show.
* How many times did SuzumiyaHaruhi grope Mikuru? Yes, more than once. And how many times did she [[spoiler: rewrite reality without even knowing that she's doing so]]? Once, and ''maybe'' twice. But considering how some people react, one would think she does these things ''every'' single episode.
** Just from the show, she changed the batting order, created the phantom of a murderer, she changes her seating arrangement to sit behind Kyon, she [[spoiler:creates a closed reality that almost destroys/remakes the world]], she created espers, aliens and time travelers, she made Itsuki transfer in... There's a lot of little, subtle things. While it's not every episode, it's significantly often enough.
** The original text is probably refering for when she ''completely'' change the world, not the minor stuffs.
** How many times did she ''rape'' Mikuru? '''ZERO'''. Yet somehow she managed to make it onto the page picture for RapeIsLove anyway.
*** What, were you expecting a page picture depicting actual rape?
*** More then that, She just grope Mikuru once, in Mikuru introdution. She ''did'' strip and change her costumes a lot, but groping(with only the purpose of feeling her breasts) was only once. Twice, if you count when she made the Computer Club President grope her.
*** [[SarcasmMode The way some people act, you'd think molesting someone was a big deal or something.]]
* Shiro Emiya from ''FateStayNight'' is often branded CaptainObvious based on one moment ''that didn't really even happen'': the infamous "People die when they are killed." line isn't even an accurate translation; what he said was more along the lines of, "[[DeathIsCheap Normal people are supposed to die from (these kinds of injuries)]]". He may be [[LawfulStupid stupid]] in [[LeeroyJenkins other]] [[StayInTheKitchen ways]], but pointing out the obvious isn't really one of them.
** One of Shiro's ideals as TheMessiah is that he doesn't want to see Saber (and, for the most part, Saber ''specifically'') injured because of his own weakness. If you listened to the internet, you'd think his every other sentence is "StayInTheKitchen!"
* There was one instance in ''FullMetalAlchemist'' where the colonel is seen slacking off at work and avoiding paperwork until the last second. This wasn't even a very important episode, just a little fanservice since he hadn't shown up in a while. However, try to find ONE Royai fic (Or even just a fic about the colonel in general) that doesn't at least mention this 'tendency'. Just one.
** Author example. Al hides a kitten in his armor once, and this is repeatedly parodied in the manga omakes (for example having an enormous cat that breaks out of the armor or multiple cats that claw Marta when she tries to hide in there, resulting in [[spoiler:Al recovering his memory of being at the Gate]]).
* James from ''{{Pokemon}}'' in one episode remarked that he wanted a doughnut once. In the show's earlier days, he seemed to be known for wanting doughnuts.
* Thanks to the predominance of {{Fanon}} for ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'', many of the characters suffer Never Live It Down to some extent.
** [[{{Tsundere}} Akane Tendo]] used a mallet to hit her JerkWithAHeartOfGold fiancee twice in the anime, and only a few times in the manga... but lots of people also used mallets, including Ranma (more often than Akane,) Soun, Genma, and a few oneshot characters. In fanfiction, she's the only one who's ever known to use a mallet when things get violent, despite the fact she canonically prefers her fist (and a shinai, to a lesser extent, in the anime version).
*** In the SoBadItsHorrible fanfic ''Twisted Path'', the GodModeSue protagonist uses his magic powers to make special weapons for the cast to use in the final battle. No points for guessing what Akane's weapon was.
** Ranma Saotome claims he WouldntHitAGirl only once, during his first battle with Kodachi in the [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics]] Challenge, twice if one counts his telling Akane that sometimes guys will let girls win battles if they like them, and thrice if one counts an anime-only {{Filler}}... Possibly influenced by the prevelance of the ArmorPiercingSlap, fanfic Ranma is infamous for looking down on women's combat abilities, something he never does in either version of the canon, and for refusing to strike back at women even if they're trying to actively kill him.
** Shampoo once made usage of special mushrooms from her homeland that made the consumer vulnerable to hypnotic suggestions, and tried to take advantage of a piece of love magic that fell into her hands twice (the Love Pill Bracelet in both canons, and a travelling merchant with a literal RedStringOfFate in an anime episode)... She didn't even plot the mushroom incident on her own, because the merchant included them in the groceries by mistake. Fanfiction [[RonTheDeathEater portraying her as a villain]] invariably plays up her as being a kind of "mistress of love potions and mind-controlling poisons". In canon, love magic appears in many forms and is used by many characters (including Ryoga Hibiki, often considered one of the more [[PillarsOfMoralCharacter honourable]] characters in the series and Ranma himself), while chemical usage is the speciality of Kodachi Kuno. And even Kodachi sticks with paralysis and sleeping powder.
** Akane stopped calling Ranma "pervert" relatively early on in the manga, and when she used it again after many, many volumes of absence, the obvious CallBack [[CrowningMomentOfFunny made it very funny]]. To the fandom, it's pretty much her {{Catchphrase}}. Though she does frequently accuse him of lecherous intentions, it's rare that she actually ''says'' "pervert".
* In MahouSenseiNegima, [[ShrinkingViolet Nodoka]] will forever be considered the series' foremost CovertPervert after she came up with [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/c165.0/8.html a certain]] [[TenchiSolution solution]] to the love triangle involving [[{{OT3}} herself, Negi, and Yue]]. Granted, she ''is'' a CovertPervert, but her fantasizing (which is only actually seen about 3 times in 250+ manga chapters) is greatly exaggerated by the fandom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* [[XMen Jean Grey]] is probably the most unfortunate victim of this. How many times did she genuinely come BackFromTheDead? If you don't count fake-outs, clones, androids, or shapeshifters (all of which are par for the course with almost ''all'' superheroes)... Once. Twice once [[WriterOnBoard Joe Quesada's anti-redhead crusade]] ends, [[FirstLawOfResurrection one assumes]]. This puts the poor woman on the ''low end'' of [[DeathIsCheap comic book resurrections]]. But those who DidNotDoTheResearch just know her for her resurrection, and think it's more common than it actually is, or else [[FreakOut going mad]].
** This trope, in fact, used to be called "Jean Grey Escalation," but tropers kept [[{{Irony}} proving the point]] by assuming it referred to how she "always comes BackFromTheDead."
** She wasn't even really thought of this way until fans of [[StillTheEighties early eighties]] Marvel started RunningTheAsylum, shoehorning her into this role, despite the 20 years of genuine CharacterDevelopment she'd had since she came back. So, all the "really, she's not coming back this time" hoopla is [[DeadUnicornTrope trying to avert something]] that ''[[WallBanger wasn't true in the first place]]''. Fans who actually followed her since the mid eighties are... less than pleased.
** Even {{Deadpool}} claims that "Jean Grey, deaths even cheaper than usual", but since it's the writer putting those words in his mouth, we know he really meant Magneto (the ''true'' XMen poster child for DeathIsCheap).
** [[http://www.alternatecover.com/features/how-many-times-has-jean-grey-died/ Here]] is a list of the many deaths of Jean Grey. Note: the first and the last six are--by the author's own admission--uncertain (they almost seem to be included just to pad the count), another is with loads of other heroes (who all came BackFromTheDead along with Jean afterwards), and another is an alternate timeline (which other heroes died a lot more in those). Note also that well over half are from ''after'' those RunningTheAsylum painted her like this. That's about the authorial equivalent of planting evidence.
* In the '90s-era cartoon, Angel gets this too: His time as Archangel is the ''only'' aspect of him we see. There isn't a single episode in the series that he's in that doesn't either feature Apocalypse, or remind us of Angel's stint as his herald.
* One of Lucy's personality-cementing moments in ''{{Peanuts}}'' is the famous trick of pulling a football away from Charlie Brown optimistically trying to kick it. The actual frequency of this gag has more to do with the sheer length of the strip; Schultz specifically commented he only did these strips once a year at most to make sure the joke stayed fresh and keep Lucy from appearing ''too'' nasty. So she did it 48 times in 17,000+ strips.
** Of course, doing it at the worst possible moment [[WallBangers/WesternAnimation and getting away with it]] in the AnimatedAdaptation might have helped worsen things...
** Put the previous two together, by the way, and you get [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v97/MasterSplinter/X-Nuts.jpg X-Nuts]].
** Fun fact: the very first football pull was actually performed by ''Violet'', not Lucy; she pulls the ball away because she's afraid he'll kick her hand, not out of malice. And in the last one, Rerun replaced Lucy - we never find out whether Charlie Brown kicked it or not.
* John Jameson is most well known for becoming the Man-Wolf, although he was cured in the '70s. Also, he hasn't been an astronaut for years.
** Thank you, Dan Slott - he's the Man-Wolf again. Sort of.
** This specific example is subverted in ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' - when John gets powers, he becomes Colonel Jupiter, following one of the comics from the pre-Man-Wolf period.
* Pictured above: Occurred with the [[IHaveManyNames many-monikered]] Dr. Hank Pym, a founding member of Comicbook/TheAvengers, who once hit his wife Janet (Wasp) during a [[FreakOut mental-breakdown-induced]] FaceHeelTurn. (This storyline also included him killing old enemies in cold blood, and releasing murderous robots on New York just so he could look like a hero when he stopped them; the whole thing would be a DorkAge if it didn't end with Pym [[HesBack recovering]], then [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome singlehandedly beating the Masters of Evil]].) Writers have explored the issue with various levels of grace since then, but more than once his hitting Wasp has devolved into a crude running gag which still colors newer depictions of him. In particular, the Ultimate version of Hank Pym ''is'' an outright wife-beater -- and since ''The Ultimates'' is so popular, [[TheUnfairSex this has made things even worse for the "real" Pym]].
** What's particularly frustrating is that Jan and the other Avengers forgave Hank long ago -- it's the writers who won't. Every time the incident is laid to rest, someone comes along to dig it up again. Most recently, Chuck Austen DidNotDoTheResearch; in his brief ''Avengers'' run, he wrote Hank as a misogynist, Jan as a pinball, and Hawkeye as a jerk who's held a grudge against Hank since the '80s. (In fact, they've always been close friends, and Clint's support was a big factor in Hank's redemption.) Hank and Jan have a profoundly messed-up relationship, but this was no more than a caricature of it.
** This is shown to be a part of his character in-universe, too, as a consequence of the fact that this is all writers ever do with him; in ''The Initiative'', Trauma loses control of his powers and Hank witnesses his greatest fear: That people will never let go of the fact that he lost control exactly one time.
*** Subverted in this same issue, when Baron von Blitzschlag points out that Hank is practically a war criminal for all the things he's done outside of spousal abuse.
*** One could call it a ''double'' subversion, considering that [[spoiler: that was Skrull!Pym. However, all the assorted Skrulls who replaced him had his memories and, inevitably, his insanity as well, so it still stands.]]
** Perhaps the most extreme form came in ''Marvel Zombies'', where the local Hank Pym ''bit Jan's head off'' - to his disgust (zombies hate the taste of zombies) and to little effect ([[ZombieApocalypse zombie, anyone?]]).
** On the other hand, [[DoubleStandard no one ever brings up that the Wasp used Hank's clear mental illness as a means to get him to the altar]].
*** The second ''Earth's Mightiest Heroes'' miniseries retconned that; Jan has been advised by a SHIELD psychiatrist to let Hank's delusion play itself out, and is exceedingly uncomfortable with marrying him in these circumstances. (This also takes the IdiotBall away from the rest of the Avengers; of ''course'' they know it's him, they just can't say anything.)
* Likewise, the frequency with which Hank Pym has changed identities (from Ant-Man to Giant-Man to Goliath to Yellowjacket, then back through several of these again, and finally to Wasp) has become a running gag as well.
** "Finally"? For now, maybe. This is more deserved than the trope though - he really does change names a ''lot''.
* Tony Stark / IronMan's alcoholism has generally been worked into his story with both respect and ridicule. Like Hank Pym, Tony has suffered lately for the sins of his Ultimate incarnation (Ultimate Tony Stark is a ''drunk'', plain and simple). Of course, at this point, if that's [[Comicbook/CivilWar what he's remembered for]], he's lucky...
** This is also the one aspect of the character that is ever seen in parodies like ''Twisted Toyfare Theater''. Even the TTT version of ''CivilWar'' started when a newly-sober Iron Man enforced prohibition on Megoville.
* Roy Harper, a.k.a. Speedy/Arsenal/Red Arrow, has narrowly skirted the edges of this trope. His most memorable moment was [[http://www.socalcomics.com/gl85fvf.jpg his 1971 battle with heroin addiction]]. While he hasn't lapsed ''back'' into addiction, the fact that he's a ''former'' junkie is a significant part of his backstory, and comes up regularly -- almost to the point of being a DisabilitySuperpower ("That was tough, but nothing compared to giving up drugs!"). A recent issue of ''Titans'' established that this actually wasn't the last time he did heroin, either.
** It's worth noting that Roy's battle with drugs only lasted two issues. Compare to Iron Man's alcoholism, which lasted much longer and was portrayed more realistically.
*** Parodied in the ''Arsenal'' miniseries, where he goes back to his adoptive Navajo tribe to get an adult name, and is jokingly told it's "He Who Once Did Drugs".
** The second Speedy, Mia Dearden, is almost exclusively known for being a former prostitute and HIV positive.
* [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]], macked a teenager.
** Guy Gardner, "One Punch!", and his '80s "complete pig" behavior tend to overshadow his current BoisterousBruiser status.
*** Kyle Rayner's first girlfriend Alex was the trope-namer for StuffedIntoTheFridge and since then things have not gone well for his love life. Since he lost the position of the star of the Green Lantern comic, many writers and fans seem to remember him only for this, and the list of his loved ones killed has gone on to include Jade, Donna Troy (although she got better), and his mother.
* Frank Miller is usually remembered for [[http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20060207.html writing prostitutes]] and [[http://image.hotdog.hu/_data/members0/364/974364/images/The_Goddamn_Batman.jpg The Goddamn Batman.]] Thankfully there are no plans to write a goddamn prostitute Batman.
** Yet. You can never be sure what Frank'll do next.
*** Ironic, given that Miller has stated his biggest regret regarding ''TheDarkKnightReturns'' (before it became the template for "Grim & Gritty") was making Selina Kyle a used-up madame.
* Captain Marvel (the alien one of Marvel Comics, not DC's ''{{Shazam}}'' one) is best known for dying of cancer - something he didn't like finding out when he "came back" (read: arrived in the present day via TimeyWimeyBall). [[spoiler:Though we ultimately find out that he's not the real Captain Marvel and there ''was'' no TimeyWimeyBall.]]
* DC Comics supervillain Doctor Light was a largely unused character who gained some relevance when it was revealed that he had raped the wife of a superhero. Since then, the fact that he's a rapist has become such an integral part of his character that he could very well be renamed Doctor Rape.
** To quote Plastic Man, "It's like that's his power now."
** Which overshadowed his previous NeverLiveItDown moment as being a completely worthless {{Joke Character}}!
* GreenArrow and Black Canary had a twenty-year-long romantic relationship, during which time GA's total non-Dinah activity consisted of a) being raped and b) kissing another woman (once). Somehow, both writers and fans take from this [[AllMenArePerverts that Oliver is a total slut]] [[TheUnfairSex who constantly sleeps around on the long-suffering Dinah]].
** To be fair, Oliver Queen has three kids with three other women (Cissie King-Smith, Connor Hawke, and Shado's son Robert), and two of those were the result of consensual encounters. Connor predates Oliver's relationship with Dinah, but Cissie is seventeen at most.
*** [[ComicBookTime Which does mean she was conceived long before he met Dinah, who he's only known for 7-10 years, in continuity.]] On the other hand, it does point out Ollie's rather casual attitude toward sex. (And his callous attitude toward at least one of his lovers, since he canonically ran off after Connor was born. I'm not sure about Cissie.)
*** There's no definite consensus about whether or not Cissie is his kid, but as far as we know, he doesn't know about Cissie, since he was dead for the entirety of her superhero career.
* ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'' has a variation on an old joke about goats and names, delivered by a character known as [[ButYouScrewOneGoat Bill Chimpfucker]].
* Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy from ''SpiderMan'' started out as a dominating vixen who combined TheLibby, the {{Tsundere}}, and the {{Yandere}}, and was ''furious'' that a dork like Peter wasn't interested in her. After John Romita replaced Steve Ditko as head artist, [[CharacterDevelopment her character was softened considerably]] and she became the Betty in a BettyAndVeronica LoveTriangle. Like the Aerith example below, her death led to her being remembered entirely for her later, sweeter era, as a GirlNextDoor and YamatoNadeshiko. Eventually, this evolved into her being seen as a saintly martyr, Peter's one true love who was TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. After the hated story ''Sins Past,'' which put her through brutal (and retconned) CharacterDerailment, the fans became ''even more'' determined to remember her as a saint.
* An in-universe example: The Trapster, a B-list [[MarvelUniverse Marvel]] super villain. Charter member of the [[FantasticFour Frightful Four]], wields fairly dangerous adhesive based weaponry. He also debuted calling himself "Paste-Pot Pete" and had a string of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Human Torch and SpiderMan. And the Marvel heroes [[ButtMonkey never let him forget it]] - to the point where just calling him "Pete" while he's in costume has become his BerserkButton.
** That's sort of justified because, come on, out of all the super-villain names to think of, you choose ''Paste-Pot Pete''? You're just asking for the Wrecking Crew to give you wedgies.
* The Question will never be able to live down the influence that [[{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]] has on his character.
** Specifically, the JLU version.
** Which is ironic since [[{{AlanMoore}} Alan Moore]] based ''[[{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]]'' off of ''The Question''. Not the other way around.
*** Arguably this mixture made him a better character than his original identity as [[WriterOnBoard a walking Objectivist soapbox]].
** Actually, contrary to popular assumption based on the Cartoon, he never really became too much like Rorschach, the character has maintained personal integrity in that way. It's just that Watchmen fans tend to look at him and see only those aspects of his personality that Rorschach was developed on. This is best summarized in the issue where Vic Sage actually ''does'' pick up Watchmen and tries to emulate Rorschach's attitude, which nearly gets him killed. He concludes ''Rorschach sucks''.
* The Comedian of ''{{Watchmen}}'' attempts to rape Sally Jupiter ''once'', and is stopped by Hooded Justice. Lots of people, including a number of contributors to this very wiki, refer to him as a serial rapist.
** He also gets this treatment in the story, as a random protester calls him "pig and a rapist" due to Hollis Mason's book, which had recently made the more unpleasant aspects of his personality public.
** Also remember - Sally is one girl, and Comedian gave the impression he does this kind of thing regularly. Hell, that might be why he of all people wears a mask.
** Well, he does [[spoiler:murder his pregnant Vietnamese Thang... admittedly, she does slash him with a broken beer bottle first]], though the subtext there is more that he led her on and then failed to deliver on his promises than actual rape. Also, the discovery that he is [[spoiler:Laurie Jupiter's father leads her (and several others, as well as most readers) to assume that he succeeded on a later attempt.]][[supersecretspoiler:.. though we eventually find out that it was consensual.]]
* Bane, {{Batman}}'s foe, received a number of augmentations, such as subcutaneous shields, and the "Venom" drug that increased his already formidable strength. He beat Batman mostly through simple intelligence, and was captured by "[=AzBats=]" pulling the Venom tube out of his head. (But he was still far from helpless.) In the comics, he weaned himself off the drug while in prison, has allied himself with and fought Batman on several occasions without any chemical assistance, and is established as an Batman-level strategist. Every single interpretation of him in other media is a thug who goes down the ''second'' he's deprived of Venom, and is often DumbMuscle to boot.
** ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'' is... a bit mixed on this. [[spoiler: Although it portrays him as still a Venom addict, and has him almost completely paralyzed when Dr. Young literally removes all traces of it from his body, merely being unhooked from his Venom pump barely slows him down. The roof collapsing on him manages to buy enough time for Batman and Commisioner Gordon to get out... but he turns out to have been feigning defeat to try to catch Batman off guard. Unfortunately for him, Batman actually anticipated this, and knocks him into the river with the Batmobile when he tries to ambush them.]] Not quite "Batman-level strategist without chemical dependencies", but a step in the right direction.
** For what its worth, the Venom dependency was also averted in ''[[LegoCrossoverGame LEGO Batman]]''. He actually defeats himself though, keeping with the dumb muscle portion.
** In [[BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman: The Animated Series]] Bane only uses Venom at a strategic point of the decisive fight, and is defeated when Batman ''opens'' the valve to his tank, severely overdosing him with the drug.
* Superboy Prime has become inmature whine sociopath in InfiniteCrisis, but still has some motives that make him slip near WellintentionedExtermist. But CountdownToFinalCrisis gave him serious CharacterDerailment making him say one line after which fans forget about that and marked him as an complete idiot and nobody can treat him seriusly after that. This line was:
--->'''Prime:''' ''I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU TO DEATH!''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''StarWars'': Darth Vader has the YouHaveFailedMe trope as his NeverLiveItDown, despite only doing it twice in the movies.
** Leia kissed Luke precisely once, specifically to make a point to Han, and before and after that there is nothing even remotely sexual between them, but some people seem to genuinely believe they were screwing like hot incestuous bunnies before ''Return of the Jedi''. Wishful thinking? {{Squick}}!
*** Actually it was twice. Once in each film. And the romance between the two was originally intended, until sometime during ''Empire'', when they decided on Han instead.
** The casual manner in which Darth Vader dispatches his incompetent underlings, as well as taking into account TheLawOfConservationOfDetail, suggests that this is a common occurrence.
**A more unfortunate StarWars example: it seems no one can mention General Grievous without someone bringing up his... [[BadassDecay less]] [[VillainDecay than dignified]] [[AntiClimax ending]].
* {{James Bond}} has become known as the film series where 'The main Bond girl works for the villains until she falls in love with James Bond'. In fact, this has only happened on two occasions; in Goldfinger and Casino Royale. Most of the other times, the Bond girl is either an ally of Bond from the first (e.g. You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service), an innocent drawn into the villain's schemes (e.g. Dr No, A View to A Kill, Goldeneye), working with the villains but unaware of the true nature of their plans (From Russia With Love, Octopussy), a willing accomplice/BigBad who never changes sides (The World Is Not Enough) or effectively a slave rather than an ally of the villains (Thunderball, Live and Let Die).
** Complicating matters several Bond films (such as Thunderball, Goldeneye and Die Another Day) have genuinely evil beautiful henchwomen ''as well'' as heroines.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jokes]]
* As mentioned in the ''{{Transmetropolitan}}'' example, there's an old joke that is practically the essence of NeverLiveItDown, which has one poor guy relating all his accomplishments over many years, and then memorably ending with: "[[ButYouScrewOneGoat But you fuck]] '''[[ButYouScrewOneGoat one goat]]'''..."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* {{Hamlet}} is well-known for being indecisive and angsty, spending scenes [[ContemplateOurNavels contemplating his navel]] instead of doing something. It's gotten to the point where "he's a Hamlet" means "he's indecisive." But in the actual play, Hamlet acts stupidly rash just as often as he acts stupidly timid, most notably when he kills Polonius. [[TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples Which means...]]
* ''TheThreeMusketeers'' only say "All for one and one for all!" ''twice'' in the original books; most adaptations have them saying it all the time.
* ''DonQuixote'' is well-known for being an idealistic fool in a cold grey world, a laughingstock and ButtMonkey. As a result, there's a huge MisaimedFandom that sees him as an ideal to strive for even if he can't win. The original Quixote ''was'' an idealistic fool, but it wasn't his entire character. Both the MisaimedFandom and the people who laugh at him forget that he was also an unsympathetic snob, who used his "knighthood" as an excuse to not pay for things and to bully his social inferiors, especially Sancho. Part of why he isn't remembered this way is the AdaptationDecay in ''{{Man of La Mancha}}'', which emphasized his foolish idealism a lot more. ("Dream...the impossible dream...")
* Ginny Weasley of the ''HarryPotter'' series has a reputation in the fandom for being a little tart who can't keep her knickers on. In the canon, she dated three guys (no, not at once) over a period of four years before marrying the last one. Interestingly, Hermione has also dated exactly three people, one for [[OperationJealousy rather petty reasons]], and no one accuses ''her'' of being a slut.
** That's because [[DieForOurShip most of the people who subscribe to the former want Harry to hook up with the latter]].
* Alanna from the [[TortallUniverse Tortall]] books suffers from a similar reputation, despite having had relationships with a grand total of three guys in her life, each of them long-term and serious, one of which became a marriage. Yet that's still more than any of TamoraPierce's other protagonists (except [[AManIsNotAVirgin Briar]] in the CircleOfMagic universe), so she gets stuck with a Slutty [=McSluttington=] image in some readers' minds.
* An in-universe example is [[JediAcademyTrilogy Kyp Durron]], a powerful young Jedi who once got either possessed or heavily influenced by an ancient and very evil ghost, and who then fished out an indestructible superweapon that had been [[HurlItIntoTheSun dropped into the heart of a gas giant]] and proceeded to use it to cause a supernova that destroyed a rather populated planet. He was then very quickly and easily brought back into the light and put the superweapon into a black hole, then got off [[KarmaHoudini basically scot-free]] in the trilogy where he originally featured. Basically every book to feature him since then has called him on it, particularly ''I, Jedi'', a sort of FixFic trying to get the trilogy to make sense, where the main character leaves in disgust after this mass-murderer is welcomed back into the Jedi Academy for training. Other books paint Kyp as the perpetual [[TheAtoner Atoner]], having it and his lack of punishment constantly brought up.
* A few of the people in the Bible have traits they'll never live down. "Doubting" Thomas springs to mind.
** Yeah, and in his case, I think part of it is that he wasn't there the first time, according to John, so he got some focus on him for that reason, as well as his own "text bite". Mark records that they hadn't believed Mary Magdalene or two of the others when they told the disciples about it, and that Jesus "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen." Luke and John record that He showed them His hands; Luke says feet as well while John says side. So yeah, they also didn't believe, and also needed it proven; maybe another factor was that he didn't believe ''them''.
** Still a little unfair for Thomas, given that his other key moment: Jesus was planning to go back to town where the authorities would kill them. The other disciples are understandable wary. Thomas's response? "Well, let's go die with him." He may've doubted that one time, but he still was willing to go through with going into danger for the sake of his Lord.
*** Some sources claim Thomas attempted to convert India - and he was tortured to death. ''''Without''' failing in his faith.
* This happens in continuity in the ''WaysideSchool'' book series. There were three kids in the class named Eric (Fry, Bacon, and Ovens). Eric Bacon and Eric Ovens were bad at sports so everyone just assumed Eric Fry was bad at sports when he was actually great. The only time people noticed him playing was when he caught a ball that slipped out of his hand. Everyone called him "Butterfingers" after that.
** This happened with both of the others as well. Eric Bacon is much skinnier than the other two, yet he's called "Fatso;" Eric Ovens is easily the nicest and most easygoing, but he gets nicknamed "Crabapple."
* In universe example with the {{Discworld}} character, Sam Vimes. One of his ancestors, Stoneface Vimes, led an army of rebels against the insane, murderous, pedophile king. But after their victory, no judge or jury could be found that would ''dare'' stand up against royalty. So Stoneface took matters into his own hands and performed the execution himself. Despite thus being one of the most important figures in Ankh-Morpork's history, the one thing everyone remembers about him is that he was a "regicide". The modern Vimes dislikes that term, saying "It was only one king. It's not like it was a ''habit''."
* Josella Playton in ''TheDayOfTheTriffids'' writes a novel which her publisher ends up titling ''Sex Is My Adventure''. Even years after civilization has collapsed and the titular killer plants are running amok, people she meets are still mentioning this book.
* Richard Rahl, protagonist of the ''SwordOfTruth'', once led his troops to cut through a peace protest staged by TooDumbToLive [[StrawmanPolitical political strawmen]] to get to the CompleteMonster villains they're guarding, during the book that even fans acknowledge as a WallBanger that's best ignored. The key word here, of course, is "''once''". A good chunk of the times it's mentioned on this wiki, though, it's phrased to make it sound like he spends all eleven books doing nothing but slaughtering pacifists.
* Even if Eragon from the ''InheritanceCycle'' acts like the moral equivalent of Superman in his next book, he'll never let down all of the messed up things he did in the last two books.
** Having not read the books in question... from that description, one of us is confused about what this trope really means. Most of the other examples are people who screwed up big ''one time'', not over and over again. If you need to use the phrase "all the messed up things," this is more of a FaceHeelTurn (or a HeelFaceTurn, if he does Straighten Up and Fly Right).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Many have declared JD of ''{{Scrubs}}'' [[CharacterDerailment as becoming]] TooDumbToLive based on a few moments of poor geography and politics skills (specifically once [[http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/index.html being unable to find Iraq]] [[TruthInTelevision on a map]], and not knowing the difference between a Senator and Congressman) instead of just being bad at those subjects.
** In fairness, this impression may be heightened by the countless ''other'' times he acts like a moron.
*** Which doesn't change that he is repeatedly shown over the course of the show as a good doctor, despite a few moments over the run where he struggled, being highly knowledgeable and effective. He also has been described on this very wiki as a JerkAss because of some selfish behaviour he often partakes in, and some pettiness, and he is indeed self involved and weird. But he is also consistently shown to be kind, friendly, sensitive and, if a little annoying, actually a very decent person.
* Harry Kim from ''StarTrekVoyager'' and his habit of dying and coming back to life. It's been exaggerated by the fans, though, to the point where someone who only knew the show through its fans would think Harry's grave says "Harry Kim: Born: 2341. Died: 2371, 2372, 2373, 2374..."
** The same could be said of [[StargateSG1 Daniel Jackson]]'s many deaths/resurrection/ascension (although that last one only happened twice). It's lampshaded in the series itself. TheOtherWiki used to list them; [[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Jackson_(Stargate)&oldid=236270772 it's about 22 times.]]
*** Fanfiction also tends to over-exaggerate Daniel's coffee addiction. While he usually has a cup of coffee in his hands when they're on Earth, and Sam has commented on it a few times (mind you, over ''ten years''), it's brought up among the fandom to the point of ridiculousness.
* A recurring joke about the Daleks in ''DoctorWho'' was their inability to go up stairs. This weakness was addressed in the 1988 serial 'Remembrance of the Daleks', but the jokes persisted at least up until 2005, when 'Dalek' -- which also addressed this point -- was shown. It's perhaps worth pointing out that, by the time the first story aired, the audience of ''Doctor Who'' was roughly three guys and a dog, so it's possible that not enough people actually saw it for the change to sink in.
** And in some quarters it's ''still'' what the Daleks are most famous for, despite the fact that the Daleks in the new series spend half their time flying around like nobody's business. The creatures also get flak for having "plungers for hands".
** To be fair, this ''was'' a fairly important limitation before they started flying (25 years after their first appearance). The Fourth Doctor once escaped them by climbing up a ceiling duct and then calling down "If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us? Bye bye!"
** The Daleks' habit of coming back from the dead, however, is as justified as the Master's reputation for doing so.
* Similarly, any discussion of "Classic" (pre-2005) Doctor Who will feature a lot of people talking about "shaky sets and monsters made of bubblewrap". One particularly dedicated fan has watched every episode of Classic Who available on DVD (which includes most of the Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker era that most people are recalling), and counted exactly '''one''' incident of each of those.
* The Swedish TV show ''HippHipp!'' featured the character Mike Higgins. Despite using the same entry-line in every episode he appeared, it's the last line he ever said in the series that people remember:
-->'''Mike''': And let me just finish by saying: Go to hell.
* One of the biggest pricing game flops on ''ThePriceIsRight'' was a mid-90s game called "Split Decision". It has a reputation for being the game where ''nothing'' worked right and the board was constantly falling apart. In truth, there was ''one'' playing where two of the numbers fell off their markers. The game's short life was due to the fact that contestants simply had trouble understanding the rules.
* In ''TheBradyBunch'', Jan only said "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" ONCE in the whole series.
* Similarly, in ''{{Friends}}'', Chandler utters his famous catchphrase "Could x ''be'' more y?" maybe twice. Yet somehow, it becomes the go-to tease whenever any of the other characters mock him.
** If the ''other characters'' are teasing him about it, it's possible that he does it a lot off-screen and we just don't see it... or, equally plausible, it may be a Real Life (in the series' continuity) version of this trope.
** {{Lampshaded}} in one of the last seasons when Joey goes to Monica's Halloween party as Chandler, and his "impression" consists of nothing more than repeating the last thing Chandler said and adding, "BLEARGHHHHHHHHH!" on the end. Everyone laughs, except Chandler (who points out that he doesn't do that).
* [[StarTrek James Kirk]] is well known as a space-traveling playboy who has more notches than bedpost. In fact, despite liberal use of soft lens and hey-look-a-pretty-girl music, Kirk didn't get involved with many of the women he met in his travels and was even occasionally portrayed as an uptight boy scout. And the rest of the male cast seemed to get involved with women at least as often as Kirk did.
** Similarly, we don't actually see Scotty drunk or drinking that often, and the most stand-out example was him trying to put one over on an enemy, but in fanfic he's ''the'' guy you go to for booze. (The fact that the character is Scottish probably adds to this.)
** In a somewhat odd example, Chekov's made-in-Russia bit never became the full-blown running gag it was originally meant to be, but the way the fans go on you wouldn't know better without watching the series yourself.
*** However, used to great effect in the fourth movie ''The Voyage Home'', because if there's a ''worse'' choice to send to ask a late-20th-century US police officer where the US Navy keeps its nuclear craft than someone clearly ignorant of local geography in an unfamiliar-but-obviously-not-US-Navy uniform speaking with a pronounced Russian accent, I can't think of who it would be.
* Besides Billy's braininess, Trini's translating, Zack's dancing, Kim's gymnastics, and Jason's jocular nature, no other quirk for any of the PowerRangers from the first season lasted for longer than that particular episode's plot requirements demanded it... except for [[EnsembleDarkhorse Tommy's]] being a complete scatterbrain, which took root in the fanon after a single episode and ultimately got many a CallBack in subsequent incarnations. This is all the more amusing for the fact Tommy is the TropeNamer for [[SixthRanger Sixth Rangers]] and one of the biggest [[CanonSue Canon Sues]] around.
** Hilariously called back by Kat and Hayley in both his original exit in PowerRangersTurbo and his earliest episodes of PowerRangersDinoThunder.
*** Not to mention Tommy himself after taking the time, while chased by a rampaging robot dinosaur, to buckle up and lock the door on his (open top) jeep.
* In-universe example in ''LawAndOrder: SVU'': A social worker is called to trial for placing a child in an abusive home, which eventually led to his death. The bad publicity and death threats she receives drive her to suicide, with her last words lampshading that she has saved hundreds of children but will only be remembered for this one.
** Very much TruthInTelevision. Whether justified or not, a person is expected to do their job well, and a disproportionate amount of attention is almost always placed on any and all mistakes.
* While ''The Shield'' star David Rees Snell (aka "Ronnie Gardocki") had a manly beard for the bulk of the series, it's not the beard that the actor is most remembered for facial hairwise; it's his magnificent porn star moustache that David Rees Snell had for the first two seasons of the show.
* When [[LawAndOrder Jack McCoy]] has an argument with one of his subordinates over questionable tactics, expect the phrase "You once hid a witness" to come up. In the episode "Under The Influence" (s8e11), [=McCoy=] hid an exculpatory witness from the defense, in order to maintain murder charges against a drunk driver who killed two pedestrians (a mother and daughter). (He later relents, but still faced sanctions for his actions).
** Smiilarly, expect the fact that he slept with Claire Kincaid to pop up at least once a season.
* During her time on ''GeneralHospital'', whenever Winifred and Maxie were on the same screen, she would always remind her that Winnie was the one who put Spinelli in prison (as part of her job as an FBI agent). By the end of her run, she wasn't even an FBI agent anymore. She was removed from the show [[TheScrappy for]] [[ShillingTheWesley other]] [[XPacHeat reasons]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* If you look at his portrayal in popular media, you'd think Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar at every concert when he actually only did so three times in his entire career. Also, the popularity of "Hey Joe" got to the point where it would be constantly requested, to Hendrix's chagrin. In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3cKLWQimE this performance]] on British pop star Lulu's program, the Experience stops playing it midway, Hendrix says "We'd like to stop playing this rubbish", and they launch into an impromptu cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love".
** To be fair, three guitars in his entire career is probably three more guitars than most musicians have burned in their entire lives.
* In the [[UsefulNotesOnPoland Polish]] circles of the Internet, [[DreadfulMusician "musician"]] and the finalist of the Polish edition of ''[[AmericanIdol Idol]]'' Szymon Wydra is more known for [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil how he has infamously thought of piracy as]] ''something worse than murder'' than for his music. And for a [[SmallNameBigEgo good]] [[SoBadItsHorrible reason!]]
** Heck, publicitly in any way admitting that your views on Intellectual Property mimics the ones of the Profit-Happy American Entertainment Industry can be a tough thing to live down. [[SeventhAndNinth I]] would personally salute you if that crusade against Napster ''isn't'' the first thing coming to your mind whenever you think of [[{{Metallica}} Lars Ulrich]].
* Ozzy Osbourne did a lot of crazy shit during his younger years as a rocker, but the incident that sticks out in a lot of people's minds is that particular concert where somebody threw a bat on stage, and Ozzy, thinking it was a toy rubber bat and not the real deal, bit its head off. People have never let him forget about it since, and he's had to explain more than once that "it was only fucking once."
** Then again, he did follow that up by biting the head off a live dove. SoYeah...
*** I'm pretty sure the dove happened first, then the bat.
** For Texans, that incident may take a back seat to one that occurred shortly afterward: he ''urinated on the Alamo'', while wearing one of Sharon's dresses. ItsALongStory.
* Okay how many of you ever heard of Amy Winehouse BEFORE she became a known joke for getting arrested for drug charges?
* No one will ever let DavidBowie forget that he did his best work while claiming to be a [[DiscountLesbians bisexual space alien]].
** Well, there's that and the notorious ''[[{{Labyrinth}} AREA]]''...
* Jessica Simpson: "Chicken of the sea". That is all.
* The NuMetal genre as a whole. It doesn't matter how much they tweak their style or whether they [[NewSoundAlbum overhaul it entirely]], nu-metal bands will forever be known for having been nu-metal bands.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* To the [[CanadaEh Canadian]] ProfessionalWrestling fans, Shawn Michaels is forever known as the guy that screwed Bret Hart out of the [[{{WWE}} WWF]] Championship. To this day, whenever Michaels or former WWE and current {{TNA}} referee Earl Hebner appear in Canada, the fans would chant "YOU SCREWED BRET!" at them.
** Likewise, Bret Hart is remembered by casual (or non-wrestling) fans as that guy who got screwed out of the title, and the fact that he cannot get over it.
* Neither Edge nor Lita's careers were ever the same ever again in 2005, after they cheated on their previous lovers (Edge with his second wife, Lita with Matt Hardy) and started dating each other.
** Edge seems to have gotten off easy. Lita, on the other hand, was on the verge of a mental breakdown due to the constant chants of "Slut" (among many others), and retired.
* While VinceRusso is the worst thing to ever happen to wrestling, in his defense, many casual fans are under the impression that he regularly had wrestlers lay down in the ring for him, and held the World Heavyweight Championship for an absurd period of time. In reality, he routinely allowed guys like Flair to use him as a punching bag. And his WHC win? He was on the losing end of that Cage Match, when Goldberg "accidentally" speared him through the side of the cage, causing him to win by default. He vacated the title two days later.
* In wrestling circles, Kevin Sullivan is notable for "booking his own divorce". And you know the rest...[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
* People won't remember Zinedine Yazid Zidane for anything else than headbutting Marco Materazzi during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, though he didn't do much else after it, as he retired...
** His performance at the 1998 World Cup won't be forgotten, at least in Brazil.
* Bill Buckner was one of the best hitting first basemen of his era, winning the 1980 National League batting title and finishing his career with over 2700 hits. Yet all anyone seems to remember about him is this one play he failed to make in this one World Series game...
** Then there's Scott Norwood, a Buffalo Bills kicker who missed a go-ahead field goal in the final seconds of Super Bowl XXV. That the Bills would go on to lose the next three Super Bowls as well (their own NeverLiveItDown moment) probably didn't help matters.
*** '''B'''oy '''I L'''ove '''L'''osing '''S'''uperbowls.
*** Buckner got a very warm ovation when he appeared at Fenway in 2008. But I'm sure the '04 and '07 titles had nothing to do with it.
** As long as we're discussing the Red Sox... Grady Little. There probably isn't a Red Sox fan in the word who can't hear Little's name without reflexively shouting "TAKE OUT PEDRO!" For those who don't follow baseball, the Red Sox (whom Little managed) in 2003 were five outs away from reaching the World Series when Little chose to leave tiring starter Pedro Martinez in the game rather than summon a fresher pitcher from the bullpen. The Yankees tied the game and went on to win on an 11th inning home run from the unlikely Aaron Boone, knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs. Little was fired after the season, possibly the only time that a Major League manager was ever fired for a single in-game decision.
** This can be said of many, many athletes. In NHL hockey, Ty Conklin has been a brilliant regular-season goalie for Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and now Detroit. Nobody will let him play in the playoffs, however, because of one mistake in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, playing for Edmonton, which allowed an easy goal for the opponent.
* Kermit Washington was an All-Star NBA foreward for the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. After his playing days he was a popular radio host and was heavily involved in charity work. But mention his name, and 99% of people who recognize it will go straight to the night he nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich with a freak haymaker. (Often inacurately described as a "sucker punch"). And before winning championships and Olympic gold as a coach, Rudy T was most remembered as being the recipient of that punch (despite being an All-NBA level player prior to that night).
** Tomjanovich, likewise, has noted that for much of his life people would come up to him and say, "I know you - you're the guy who got nailed."
* Joe Namath was one of America's first rock star athletes, best known for his guarantee of victory for his underdog New York Jets over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Now most people, especially younger fans, think of him first and foremost for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQqIQyT-RuM drunkenly hitting on ESPN's Suzy Kolber during a Monday Night game]]. It doesn't help that the incident provided the name for one of the most popular sports humor blogs around: [[http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/ Kissing Suzy Kolber]].
** In his own era, Namath was lambasted for wearing a ''[[PrettyInMink mink coat on the sidelines.]]''
** Well, that and the panty hose. (It was for a commercial, not a Lifestyle Choice.)
* Sam Bowie was the #2 pick of the 1984 NBA Draft out of the University of Kentucky. He played eleven years in the Association with Portland, New Jersey, and the LA Lakers. Most average NBA fans only know him as the guy the Trail Blazers drafted instead of some sophomore out of North Carolina... some kid named Jordan. This is a rather unfair condemnation of both Bowie and Portland, given that Portland needed a big man (of which Bowie was the best on the board, after the #1 pick, Houston's Hakeem Olajuwon) much more than they needed another shooting guard, having used the previous year's first rounder on Olajuwon's former (and future) teammate, Clyde Drexler.
* Unless you know the man personally, there is only one way and one way only you'll recognize the name "Vinko Bogataj" (an otherwise obscure Yugoslavian ski jumper from the late 60s): The spectacular ramp 1970 wipeout that forever gained pop culture icon status as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbkdaqwmzi0 "'The Agony Of Defeat' Guy."]]
* Legendary ABC sportscaster Keith Jackson isn't sure how the CatchPhrase "Whoa Nelly!" got so closely associated with him. By his own recollection, he's said it ''maybe'' six times in thirty-plus years of broadcasting. But the sports fandom seems to think he does it [[OnceAnEpisode at least once every broadcast]]. (Though he does bust it out for a Dr. Pepper commercial)
* Robin Ventura played Major League Baseball for fifteen seasons. He was a three-time All-Star and a five-time Golden Glove (Best defensive player at his position) winner. Most, of course, only remember Ventura being on the wrong end on one of the most hilariously one-sided fights in baseball history: On August 4, 1993, Ventura charged the mound after getting hit by a pitch from the legendary Nolan Ryan (A player twenty years Ventura's senior). Ryan simply grabbed Ventura in a headlock and pummeled him in the head until Ryan's temamates separated them.
** The Rangers frequently show a historical highlight reel prior to games at The Ballpark that includes four Ryan highlights: The 5000th strikeout, the sixth and seventh no-hitters, and the Ventura incident. Guess which one always gets the most cheers.
* Australian cricketer Shane Warne, for sending lewd text messages while drunk. If he'd sent as many as it's generally believed he has, his thumb would have fallen off by now.
* Ronaldo was known for many things, including being one of the greatest [[strike:soccer players]] footballers of his generation, marrying to a few supermodels, and being a little overweight. But then an incident with transexuals went in the media. He claims he though they were women, but still became the "transvestite-loving-player". Thankfully he ressurrected himself to football with Corinthians, and now this incident is kind of forgotten.
* Latrell Sprewell will forever be remembered as the guy who choked his coach.
* Roberto Baggio was one of the best Italian strikers of all time, winning two Serie A and a UEFA Cup, and being chosen as best player in the world in 1993. Yet the most memorable fact about him is losing a penalty in the 1994 World Cup final.
** Likewise, Zico, a brilliant Brazilian player, is always remembered for losing a penalty in the game Brazil was eliminated in the 1986 World Cup.
* Sportscaster Howard Cosell was a mainstay of ABC Sports: play-by-play man for MondayNightFootball and go-to interviewer in the sports world. But he could never shake the stigma of racism attached to him after an infamous 1983 MNF game, where he reacted to a catch-and-run by Washington receiver Alvin Garrett with [[UnfortunateImplications "Look at that little monkey run."]] (Garrett is Black). He resigned his MNF post at the end of the 1983 season, and never regained his status among sportscasters (his open disdain for the people running boxing - his other bread-and-butter sport - didn't help).
* Similarly, Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder was a mainstay on CBS' NFL pregame show for twelve years. He became an instant pariah after a 1988 newspaper interview where he stated his believe that black athletes were inherently superior to whites because black were bred for size and strength during slavery.
** And that came mere months after Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis went on ''Nightline'' and aired his views that blacks "may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or perhaps a general manager." He tried to explain afterwards that he meant that what blacks lacked was experience, not intelligence. But he had long been forced out of his job by then. Defenders of Cosell, Snyder and Campanis say that they were unfairly railroaded and branded "racist" by the forces of Political Correctness.
* Ike Turner was one of RockAndRoll's pioneers. A talented musician and producer and as part of Ike and Tina Turner, part of one of the most popular music acts of the 70s. It used to be that he was less remembered for that than for his physical abuse of his wife Tina. Now it's for his almost-comical denial of said abuse.
** On a side note, Lawrence Fishburne once remarked it was years after he played Ike in ''WhatsLoveGotToDoWithIt'' that black women finally stopped giving him the evil eye.
* In the early 80s, [[AustralianRulesFootball Austalian footballer]] John Burke pushed over an umpire and attacked a spectator. He was given a ten year suspension, effectively ending his career, but the footage has been circulating ever since. Commentator "Slug" Jordan's "He's done well, the boy" in response to the incident hasn't helped.
* O.J. Simpson. Nothing more need be said.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Just like the Jean Grey example itself, Zero from ''MegaManX'' is known in the fandom for dying and resurrecting at the drop of a hat, which isn't exactly fair. He's only died canonically, what, [[strike:4/5]] 3 times? [[strike:And he's not revived the last time.]] Scratch that, he came back as a biometal. In the words of Sigma: "ZELLO! JUZDIE!" Perhaps this is because Zero is TheObiWan and the writers thought he was too BadAss to keep dead.
** According to the creator, Zero was originally supposed to stay dead the first time. It didn't work out.
** Fans also forget that X himself isn't much better. Zero was supposed to die in X5, but it was retconned to a near-death - and X himself also nearly died. Zero died later on when the [[ColonyDrop Ragnarok Satellite]] fell, and by then X was ''already'' dead and even his 'cyber-elf' spirit had vanished from the physical world. And X was ''also'' brought back as a biometal same time as Zero. Discounting the retconned death, Zero has died twice, X once, and both have a close-call each.
* Kain's susceptibility to being {{brainwashed}} in ''FinalFantasyIV''. Kain is in the party at the beginning of the game. He leaves after the Mist disaster and is under Golbez's control until the Tower of Zot, whereupon he breaks out and rejoins the party. He then leaves again about four or five dungeons later when Golbez reestablishes his control, and does not leave the party after rejoining some time later (whereupon, on Edge protesting his return, Kain asks that Edge kill him if he gets brainwashed again). As you can see, it only happens twice - or, to judge by the DS version, ''once'' with a brief lapse period; the amount of screentime during which he's actively brainwashed is less than half the total. Fans have exaggerated this to a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor.
* Despite resolving the majority of his issues and becoming a confident leader by the end of the game, ''FinalFantasyVII's'' Cloud Strife will always be known as an angsty, [[ContemplateOurNavels navel-gazing]] introvert. Likewise, Aerith has been painted so heavily with TheMessiah and YamatoNadeshiko brushes that most people forget that she was a spunky, energetic young woman who fell in love with an [[ReplacementGoldfish Expy of her dead first boyfriend]] and frequently caused problems by running off on her own. Interestingly, this creates something of a HypeBacklash, in that SquareEnix is often accused of [[PanderingToTheBase pandering to the extreme version of this]] when in fact they still portray the characters faithfully. Some folks in fact seem to forget that Cloud ''did'' have unresolved issues at the end of [=FF7 and FF7=] itself also puts Aerith in the role of a messianic figure at several key plot points.
** Really, though... Aerith's death by Sephiroth's hand is something else she'll never live down. (Boo. Hiss.)
*** Sephiroth himself is often depicted in fanworks as a sympathetic figure, who angsts about only wanting maternal affection and wishing to be accepted by [[IJustWantToBeNormal humanity and free of Shinra]]. In the original game, although he does express an intense interest in unlocking the secrets of his birth, Sephiroth does not really come off as feeling victimized by his life circumstances, nor does he ever express emotional vunerability while under JENOVA's control. ''CrisisCore'', however, does indicate that he is quite desparate to understand himself, but he is still not the [[AlasPoorVillain innocent villain]] many make him out to be.
* Samus Aran of ''{{Metroid}}'' fame has a reputation for having [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds any planet or space station she steps on destroyed by the time she leaves]]. The actual truth of this has varied over the years, but here are the facts:
** In ''Metroid'', she visits Zebes (or [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Zebeth]]). Technical limitations make it really unclear the extent of the [[LoadBearingBoss Load Bearing Boss's]] destruction, but later games make it clear it survived.
** ''Metroid II'' takes place on SR-388, which survives.
*** The ending to ''Metroid II'' does imply that SR388 is destroying itself -- that, in fact, as Samus kills the evolved Metroids, their deaths cause the planet to destroy itself. It isn't until ''Metroid Fusion'' that it is clarified that the cataclysm was on a much smaller scale.
** ''Super Metroid'' starts out on a space station which gets destroyed (through no fault of her own). Samus then goes back to Zebes, and blows it up via LoadBearingBoss.
** ''Metroid Fusion'' takes place on a space station orbiting SR-388. She ends up having to ColonyDrop the space station into SR-388 to stop the X parasites, destroying ''the colony, the X parasites, ''and'' SR-388''. This is the only point were this association was literately 100% true, though ''Metroid Prime'' below was released almost concurrently with Fusion.
** ''Metroid Prime'' starts on an enemy space station. Samus defeats the Parasite Queen which had fled to the ship's reactor core, and upon its death, it fell in - not technically a LoadBearingBoss, but the same effect. Ship crashes to Tallon IV, planet is fine. Ship is wrecked and underwater and becomes another area to explore later in the game. Tallon IV is saved from destruction by Samus' intervention.
*** The Temple sealing the Impact Crater, however, catches on fire and explodes multiple times as Samus runs to her ship.
** ''Zero Mission'' is a remake/update of Metroid 1, replacing it in {{Canon}} without changing anything relevant here.
*** Although she does explore a Space Pirate mothership, which later explodes due to LoadBearingBoss yet again.
** ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' is set on Aether, which has a recently formed DarkWorld that Samus destroys, saving the regular planet.
** ''Metroid Prime: Hunters'' has four planets and/or space stations, none of which are destroyed, despite the fact that you have to escape from the planets for no reason other than that there's an escape timer. The Can of the SealedEvilInACan does explode after the Sealed Evil is destroyed, however.
** ''Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' also has multiple planets and space stations which survive. The thing that gets blown up is Phaaze, which is some sort of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot evil radioactive planet spaceship thing ]].
*** She does ColonyDrop segment of a floating city as a part of a ploy to drop a bomb onto a Phazon Leviathan Seed in order to eliminate its shield.
** The conclusion is that Samus is present when a lot of worlds explode (Zebes, Phaaze, SR-388, a couple of space stations), but she's only been responsible for four (SR-388 and the BSL space station in Fusion, Dark Aether in Echoes, and Phaaze in Corruption). So, it's not so much her fault as shoddy design and some [[DoomMagnet really lousy timing]]. Still, if Samus comes knocking at your door, it might be a good idea to evacuate the planet just as a precaution.
*** The general trend is that the planets, space stations, etc. that explode are the ones that Samus is not expressly trying to save. If Samus wants the planet to survive, it will. If she doesn't much care or intends to kill everything anyway, it will explode. This holds true to everything except ''Hunters'', but those self destructs are obviously faulty.
* In ''FireEmblem 7'', Erk makes a few small comments to Priscilla about the stress of being Serra's escort. Somehow, this equals him bashing Serra to everyone who will listen every time he opens his mouth.
** Legault's flirtations with Heath in their supports result in a lot of fangirls forgetting the other, more plot-driven aspects of his character.
*** [[HetIsEw Oddly enough, said fangirls pay no attention to his flirtations with Isadora...]]
** Let's not forget that MysteriousWaif Ninian has only broken down in tears ''twice'' through the storyline (once, when she apologized to Eliwood for the part she had in Elbert's death, and the other during their A support). Fans treat her as if she cried every single time she opened her mouth, and use it to bash her for [[RealWomenNeverWearDresses being "weak"]] or [[DieForOurShip standing in between Eliwood and]] [[ActionGirl Lyn]] (who has ''also'' cried in canon, BTW).
** Speaking of Eliwood, his declaration that he has no love for war led to at least half the fandom either bashing him as a "pansy-ass pussy" or painting him as a male MoeMoe who flails/cries/goes into cardiac arrest at the sight of blood.
** ChivalrousPervert Sain says "oh, beauteous one" exactly ''one time'' within the course of the game.
** Half the fandom characterizes ShrinkingViolet Florina entirely based on her fear of men.
** Lucius has been mistaken for a woman exactly ''once'', even though his feminine looks are commented on by several characters.
*** The once part is only counting in story, lots of players [[ViewerGenderConfusion make the mistake themselves]]
* ''SilentHill'' 2's Pyramid Head is shown to be raping a fellow monster once, forcing another into an oral sex position (he may have just been breaking him in half, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic or it may have just been symbolic]]) and otherwise just stalks James (albeit in a fairly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything aggressive]] manner); {{Fanon}} [[MemeticMolester characterizes him as a rapist-murderer]] on par with [[{{Firefly}} the Reavers]].
** I know, right? Violently rape one monster and it follows you forever...
** As the alternative seems to be portraying him as a [[DracoInLeatherPants sex god]], this may be the lesser of two evils.
** It's not entirely inaccurate to say Pyramid Head is prone to raping. He does seem to be a manifestation of frustration/guilt/etc. etc. and one of those would be the main character's sexual frustrations.
* ''FinalFantasy'' is often treated as thought all of its leads are [[DudeLooksLikeALady androgynous]] {{bishonen}} [[BlueBishonenGhetto men]], and especially ever since Tetsuya Nomura took over the duties of being the main artist. Now, let's recap. The main characters Nomura has drawn have been [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Cloud_Strife_Nomura_art.jpg this guy]], [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Squall_Leonhart_character.jpg this guy,]] [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Image:Tidus_artwork.jpg this guy]], and [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Image:FFXIII-Lightning_CG.png this girl.]] Anyone here actually having trouble telling their gender?
** Wait. Wait wait wait. ''Tetsuya Nomura'' is the man behind androgynous superbish? Did I ''hallucinate'' Cecil Harvey?
** There also seems to be a belief that ''all'' Square Enix characters will look like [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Image:AmanoKuja.jpg Kuja]]. Expressed succinctly in all its wrong-headed glory [[http://checkyourhud.com/how-to-design-a-character-the-square-enix-way/ by this tutorial on how to design one.]] Ironically, the logo of the piece shows a diverse group of characters, including a woman, that look nothing like how the tutorial depicts them.
*** Also, it should be noted that Kuja is often described as looking feminine within the actual game, making him hardly suitable for a standard.
** For [[OmegaBlade me]], the most gender-ambiguous character listed above (besides Kuja) is actually ''Lightning.'' I know she's a she -- who doesn't at this point? -- but she's definitely got some non-effeminate masculinity going for her. And if the ''woman'' is ''manly,'' what does that say about the '''''men?'''''
* MetalGearSolid has this with Rosemary. A certain Codec call topped off with an argument with her emotionally distant boyfriend launched her status as one of [[TheScrappy The Scrappies]] of the series, with plenty of DieForOurShip sentiments on the side.
** On the other hand, no one ever brings up the fact that Raiden ''did'' raise his hand at her, making this into something of a reversal of the aformentioned Hank Pym treatment.
** I wouldn't say it was just ''that call'' that earned her the fans ire. The whole relationship was, as said before, profoundly screwed up and would inspire sympathy for her, if it wasn't brought up ''every single time you saved the game''. Still, she gets a lot more ire than she deserves.
* The entire genre of Text Adventures - or Interactive Fiction - will forever be remembered, unfairly or not, for YouCantGetYeFlask.
** "You may be eaten by a grue."
** "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike."
* Apparently, "[[GratuitousEnglish I're stain mah hends with your bra!" and "You cannot escape flom dess!"]] are the only things [[FatalFury Geese Howard]] ever says according to "fans". Those phrases originated from ''[[CapcomVsWhatever Capcom vs SNK 2]]''.
** On a similar note, it appears that for ANYTHING in regards to SNK characters, the only artwork they will ever use of them is from CvS2, invariably. People have got to remember that there's a reason its called Capcom vs SNK.
* Cirno from the ''{{Touhou}}'' series is indeed TheDitz, but ever since she was labeled "(9) Baka" in the 9th game's instruction manual, her stupidity has become her defining trait in fandom.
** An even worse case from the same series is Mystia Lorelei. One playing character makes a joke about eating her in the eighth game: ever since then fanon basically made her into the cast's emergency food ration, with plenty of eating and chicken (she's a bird girl) jokes at her expense. In short, a bird version of [[ExcelSaga Menchi]].
* In ''SonicTheHedgehog2006'', widely considered the worst [[PolygonCeiling 3D Sonic game]], there ''are'' hints of romantic feelings between [[InterspeciesRomance the very human Princess Elise and the very non-human Sonic]]...but it's almost entirely on Elise's side, and she was the one who kissed him [[spoiler:and he was quite dead at the time, so he didn't really have a say in the matter]] - Sonic makes no more moves on her than he does on Amy. To hear the fanbase and even some "professional" sites talk, however, you'd get the idea the entire ''game'' revolved around a [[spoiler:necro]]bestial relationship and Sonic is in fact actively trying to romance a human princess (the phrase "a hedgehog's desire to trade saliva with a human woman" is heard a lot). Not that this minimizes the {{squick}} ''much''...but if you have to blame someone for the romance, [[DamselScrappy blame Elise.]]
** Ever since Knuckles was fooled into thinking Sonic was the bad guy in ''Sonic 3'' he has earned a reputation as a gullible idiot who will believe anything Eggman tells him.
* John Romero. {{Daikatana}}. That is all.''
* In-story of ''{{Mercenaries}} 2'', your merc will be known throughout Venezuella as "the merc that Solano shot in the ass".
* Ever since {{Dissidia}} portrayed [[FinalFantasyVIII Squall]] looking after [[FinalFantasyV Bartz]] and [[FinalFantasyIX Zidane]] while they got in troubles, he has gained a reputation as the TeamMom, which ended up making around half or more of his characterization in FanArt, [[CharacterExaggeration exaggerating that trait]] either JustForFun or because they find it SickeninglySweet.
* Francis has this in ''Left4Dead'' during the Crash Course campaign. Ever since Zoey shot the helicopter pilot that saved them from No Mercy hospital and they wound up crashing, Francis will take every moment he can get to never letting Zoey forget what she did.
* Has happened to many ''BackyardSports'' characters. For example, Dmitri will forever be known as TheSmartGuy, while Maria will forever be known as the girl with pigtails. No professional reviewer pays attention to the personalities. They even get the characters' ''ages'' wrong when they are said ''in-game''.
* A rather tragic example is the case of Gunpei Yokoi. This man was practically a god while he worked at {{Nintendo}}: Yokoi kick-started their lifespan as a video game company by conceiving the [[GameAndWatch Game & Watch]]. Yokoi created the GameBoy, the descendants of which still dominate handheld gaming to this day. Most importantly for gaming history as a whole, he designed the NES controller. Literally every single standard video game controller (excluding specialty controllers, such as guitars, balance boards, or dance pads) since then is an evolution of that basic design. Even the Wii Remote was designed to mimic the NES controller when turned on its side. And on the software side, Yokoi was responsible for a large number of memorable games and successful Nintendo franchises, including ''KidIcarus'' and ''{{Metroid}}'', as well as the puzzle games ''[[SuperMarioBros Dr. Mario]]'' and ''Panel De Pon''. Yokoi also contributed to the ''SuperMarioBros'' franchise with the ''Mario Land'' series, which introduced franchise regulars Princess Daisy and Wario - yes, ''the'' Wario. And yet he's most remembered for the [[OtherNintendoSystems Virtual Boy]], which [[FallenCreator ruined his entire career in an instant]], and his sudden death a scant few years later.
** Not quite. A lot of gamers remember him for the GameBoy, Game & Watch, and ''{{Metroid}}''. That's a legacy to be proud of.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''{{Shortpacked}}!'' [[http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20090128.html predicts this will happen to Batman]].
* Haters of the comic ''CtrlAltDel'' will often mention the infamous "miscarriage" comic. Take note, all ye haters: there was exactly one in the history of the comic. Shots used to only be taken at the art (Tim B^Uckly, anyone?), the often sub-par or even outright lame humor, and even the MarySue status of the main cast. Now, everyone and [[ZeroPunctuation their Yahtzee]] will bring up, first and foremost, the miscarriage.
* Similar to the above, how long since anyone in ''DominicDeegan'' was raped?
* Monette in ''SomethingPositive'' has since been adopted by the [=MacIntyres=] and become a successful actress. But, despite now being in a committed lesbian relationship, she'll be remembered as the most man-loving lesbian ''ever''...who'd rather [[ButYouScrewOneGoat do animals than women]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
*[[HomestarRunner 1-up]] (Homestar's 20X6 counterpart) loves pudding, due to one line in a cartoon saying "I want pudding!" After someone asked "Who wants pudding?"
* Somewhat towing the line between this and {{Flanderization}} is ''OpenBlue'''s [[TykeBomb Espartano]] unit. Originally, it was supposed to be of all ages and both genders, but due to the fact that one [=RPer=] kept on cranking out [[LittleMissBadass badass lolitas]], the idea that it is an AmazonBrigade has stuck to the other regulars. Consequently, this has resulted in one regular creating an entire ''[[TheSquad squad]]'' of them, as opposed to the usual single independent operatives. The line blurs between this and {{flanderization}} because each new character/group of characters added technically counts as canon unless declared otherwise.
* In {{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}, Mako Tsunami once threw a harpoon at someone.
* [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Film Brain]] will never live down [[HePannedItNowHeSucks criticizing]] [[Film/Equilibrium]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Haru from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' showed up in a recent episode with [[strike:a dumb looking]] an ultra-sexy mustache, and the fandom still hadn't stopped making up jokes concerning it. This is partially because [[AvatarTheAbridgedSeries a certain internet parody series]] played him as a self-absorbed CampGay pretty boy several weeks ''[[ReverseFunnyAneurysm before]]'' he reappeared.
** Canon example: Katara made ''one'' speech about hope and courage and freedom. ''The Ember Island Players'''s stage rendition of her was constantly waxing melodramatic about hope and "tearbending".
* [[{{Transformers}} Optimus Prime]], similar to the above Jean Grey example, has only sacrificed his life and revived a total of two times in the G1 cartoon, and another two in the Marvel Comic rendition.
**'''AND''' one more time in [[spoiler:the latest live-action movie, ''Revenge of the Fallen'' too.]] However, as the first time he did it was so shocking, fans and writers alike quickly latched onto the idea that he (and later his ''namesakes'') do this ''[[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_many_deaths_of_Optimus_Prime#Generation_1_Cartoon_Continuity all the time]]''. Now, if the current series' Optimus ''doesn't'' do this at ''least'' once, fans are disappointed, and it even got its own little LampshadeHanging in ''BeastWars''. Currently, the ''TransformersRobotsInDisguise'' incarnation is the only version of Optimus to not have died at least once. ''TransformersAnimated'' gets it out of the way in the ''series premiere.''
** Similarly, Ultra Magnus is only remembered by fans for the infamous movie line, "I can't deal with that, now". Not only has it become an [[MemeticMutation internet meme]], but it also forever painted Magnus in fans' minds as an arrogant and lazy commander who would rather pass off responsibilities to his subordinates than actually get his own hands dirty. The fact that he's seen coordinating strategies more often than he is executing them doesn't help matters much, but he ''is'' more proactive than this misconception paints him as being.
** Made worse because his ship was being attacked by Decepticons who outgunned them, and he was ''trying to save himself and the rest of his group''. It wasn't "ohmygod I can't handle this," it was "STFU, I'm ''busy''."
**Remember how G1 Red Alert was always panicky and ultra-paranoid? If so, that makes ''one'' of us: In the aptly-named episode "Auto Berserk," when a ''missile hits him in the face,'' resulting in ''brain damage'' that would have killed him eventually, he starts acting in this manner, to the point of helping Starscream get his hands on a ''superweapon'' just to keep the Autobots, whom he believes have turned against him, away. He's fixed later. Fans seem to forget both that he was this way for one episode only due to damage, and quite how dangerous the paranoid schizophrenic Red Alert really was.
* Ron in ''KimPossible'' received Twenty Four Hour Superpowers at a rate not seen since Jimmy Olsen. For some reason fans latched onto his one time use of "Monkey Power" which influenced the writers to both tease and please fans with its usage in later episodes. Perhaps EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys.
** The "Monkey Power" was never a 24 hour power though, it was a permanent change. Even Monkey Fist got imbued with it and kept it. Ron just could never get it to work more than intermittently.
** A real example, though, is cooking. One episode shows Ron as a surprisingly excellent chef, while Kim [[FeminineWomenCanCook is a disaster]]. Though she improves by the end of the episode and it's never mentioned again, in {{fanon}} Ron is a god in the kitchen, while Kim's cooking [[LethalChef defies physics with its hideousness]].
* Tygra is ''Thundercats'' is known as a weak-willed junkie, despite being addicted twice, only one of which was actually presented as a drug.
** Just out of curiosity, how many times ''does'' one have to be addicted before the "junkie" shoe fits?
* Comic Hero {{Aquaman}} is commonly haunted by his portrayal in the ''SuperFriends'' cartoons, as a guy whose only real powers are swimming and talking to fish. This has actually worked out for him a little, as [[JusticeLeague later]] [[BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold iterations]] of the character usually go to great (and awesome) lengths to subvert this image.
* Wendy broke up with Stan exactly once, in the seventh season of ''SouthPark''. They got back together in the eleventh season finale and have been together ever since. Yet fanfic writers tend to portray Wendy as a manipulative shrew who breaks Stan’s heart again and again. This is usually done [[DieForOurShip to justify Stan leaving her for Kyle]]. But even some writers who like Wendy latch onto the idea that she and Stan break up and make up all the time.
**Oh god what did I just read.
**Double total agreement. I could have gone my entire life not knowing that there are yaoi slashfics of South Park. I mean, I guess intellectually if I had thought about it I would have realized there must be, but up until now I'd managed to avoid that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Henry VIII is often referred to as having executed all six of his wives - this happened to just the two (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) and the rest died of natural causes. There's a handy mnemonic for this: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. Still, seeing as the average persons kills zero wives in their life time it's easy to see why it's become so notable..
* JoelSchumacher directed ''FallingDown'', ''TheLostBoys'', ''ATimeToKill'', ''St. Elmo's Fire'', and ''{{Flatliners}}'', along with quite a few other movies, but most people seem to think that his entire career consisted of giving {{Batman}} [[BatmanAndRobin Batnipples]].
** And destroying the mystery involved in PhantomOfTheOpera. Of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber worked closely with him to make the movie version. Together, however, they made some disturbingly bad choices, including: a Phantom (who is supposed to be a singing master) who sings too low and badly; making the Phantom an actual living person (okay, so it's in the original book, too); and explaining away all the mystery behind the Phantom.
*** In all fairness, the movie just gives him a different backstory. The original novel explained much more.
*** Huh? In what version is the Phantom a ghost? He's supposed to be a real person hiding under the opera house.
*** And there have been plenty of baritone Phantoms. It's not like they altered any of the keys.
* President HerbertHoover is continually remembered as the president who caused the Wall Street Crash of 1929. No one remembers he was known as the "Great Humanitarian" during WorldWarI for his aid overseas (in Belgium, his name even became a word meaning "to help"), and he saw the crash coming and tried to avert it, but is 'remembered' as someone who "did nothing", though even FDR's own advisers said that "practically the entire New Deal was extrapolated" from Hoover's programs.
* Mark A. Hicks, professional Hollywood stuntman. How is he best remembered by the Internet public? As Chris Tucker's body double for the first two ''RushHour'' movies, netting several awards in the process? As the man who's done dangerous work in everything from ''Coyote Ugly'' to ''[[{{Firefly}} Serenity]]''? Not likely. He is best known for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEtIoGQxqQs flubbing a flip during an audition for a Nike ad]]. After which he ''got the part''. Seriously.
** Tell me you don't laugh yourself sick every time you see him get up, clearly concussed, and still try to flick around the nunchucks. So there.
*** Judging by the fact that he's now ''starring'' in a movie called [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1368855/ "Afro Ninja"]] (the name of the original Youtube clip), and the trailer actually contains the clip, it looks like he's trying to live UP to the name instead. Good for him.
**** Kind of sad that he botched that stunt due to jet lag and not getting enough sleep.
* A staple of basically every stand-up impressionist's act, except Pablo Francisco.
** And in Pablo Francisco's case, what celebrities can Never Live Down is their own voices, which are used to hilarious effect simply because they are funny.
** Similarly, Vaughn Meader, a best-selling comedian whose key act was his spot-on impersonation of John F. Kennedy (one of his albums, ''The First Family'', sold millions). [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Then Kennedy got assassinated]], and his career was over, since no one could think of him doing anything else.
* Regular comics don't have it easy either. Seinfeld is known for "What's up with that?", especially "What's the deal with airline food?"
** Be fair, now. Seinfeld did ''not'' say "What's the deal with..." '''just once or twice'''.
* Howard Dean. ''YAAAAH!''
* CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys.
* AllGermansAreNazis.
** Relatedly, Benito Mussolini, while not a good guy by any stretch, was really not all that bad by totalitarian dictator standards, and would probably be remembered as a WellIntentionedExtremist at worst, if not for his unfortunate choice of allies.
*** Considering the opinions that I listened by people living during his governement, I'd say "no".
* Sally Field is one of America's most famous actresses, with a string of iconic roles under her belt. But what does the layperson remember her for? Gidget? The Flying Nun? Norma Rae? [[BrothersAndSisters Nora Walker]]? Even RobinWilliams' ex in ''MrsDoubtfire''? Nope - her 1985 Best Actress Oscar acceptance speech for ''Places In The Heart'': BKA, "You like me! You really like me!"
** Which, in the context of her full speech, has a completely different meaning.
** Not to mention that [[BeamMeUpScotty she actually said]] "... you like me, right now, you like me!"
* To the man on the street Napoleon Bonaparte is not recalled for being a MagnificentBastard, a millitary genius, for rising from very little to become the most powerful man in the world before he was thirty-five or for establishing the Napoleonic Code. To the public at large he was a short Frenchman in a silly hat who held his hand ''like this'', and whose only legacy is that his defeat gave us the music of {{ABBA}}.
** Also, [[TheNapoleon he was short]].
*** Hell, Robespierre was short too. Probably shorter. [[DudeNotFunny But the Reign of Terror is generally held to be less humorous.]]
**** Losing his head under the guillotine would have made Robespierre shorter still ([[DudeNotFunny sorry]]).
*** Actually, Napoleon wasn't even that short. This came from a measurement confusion between french pouce and british inches. He was 170cm tall, an average height for that time.
**** And the fact his Imperial Guard were all huge so he looked short when next to them.
** And crowned ''himself'' as TheEmperor, in a TakeThat to the Pope.
* Erwin Schrödinger introduced the world to an equation as central to quantum physics as Newton's to mechanics or Maxwell's to electromagnetism, numerous methods for solving and interpreting it, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and polyamory in the sciences]]. Yet [[SchrodingersCat what he's remembered for]] is a CrossesTheLineTwice joke about the Copenhagen interpretation and [[ThatPoorCat torturing cats]].
** What makes this even more ironic is that most people think Schrödinger proposed his famous thought experiment in order to highlight how wonderfully weird the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is. When, in fact, he proposed it in order to prove the Copenhagen interpretation wrong. That the cat is simultaneous alive and dead was meant to show how utterly insane the Copenhagen interpretation was, not to show deep physical insight.
* Nikita Khrushchev is mostly remembered for hitting a table with his shoe.
** Among the things he's ''not'' generally remembered for: being Stalin's political hatchetman during World War II and being in charge of the Ukraine when Stalin wanted a famine created there, which killed millions of people. These are not historically negligible things.
** And Mikhail Gorbachev is remembered for one thing: that (trademarked!) birthmark on his head.
*** Russia remembers him for the anti-alcohol campaign.
** In Russia he is remembered for the shoe and for the obsession with growing corn. To be fair, also by the “Khruschev's thaw”, the period after the reign of Stalin. But the corn still comes first.
* Sir John A. Macdonald confederated the provinces of Canada, built the longest railroad in the history of the world (up to that point), expanded his dominion from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Ocean, suppressed two rebellions and governed for almost twenty years. And yet, the only thing that most Canadians know about him is that he occasionally overindulged in spirits.
** To be fair, he 'occasionally' overindulged in spirits in the same way that the Bow River is occasionally wet.
** Similarly, William Lyon Mackenzie King is remembered chiefly for holding seances, rather than his leadership during the Great Depression or World War Two.
** And Pierre Trudeau, who is arguably the architect of modern Canada, is remembered mainly for flipping-off a bunch of protesters.
** And who could forget President BillClinton? How will this great president be remembered? For his works in office? So far, it seems to be just getting a BJ from one of his interns.
*** That, and he smoked but didn't inhale.
*** Bill or the intern?
* Quite a few RealLife fighter pilots get their callsigns from one embarassing / memorable act, even if it was only a one-time event, or taken out of context. (Contrary to many works of {{fanfic}} involving pilots, pilot callsigns are generally assigned, not self-selected.)
* MarieAntoinette, for the (in)famous "Let them eat cake" line [[BeamMeUpScotty that she didn't even say]]. Although she got loads of worse associations in the century after the revolution, based on what the libel pamphlets claimed she did.
* CatherineTheGreat was an Enlighten Despot who reformed Russia, planned a coup to dethrone her husband, lead Russia into two successful wars against the Ottomans, and brought Russia into a more important role in European politics. What is she most famous for? The myth that she died while having sex with a stallion when it fell upon her. While she was known for her love life (notably with younger men), this myth is completely untrue since she died from a stroke. However the myth manages to live on due to the fact its probably more exciting than what really happened.
* When thinking of WilliamHowardTaft, what are people more likely to remember: His trustbusting activities that broke up US Steel, among other monopolies? His military action against Nicaragua? His support of the 16th Amendment, the foundation of our modern tax code? Or that he's the only former President to also serve on the Supreme Court? Nope. None of that. People remember he was so fat he got stuck in the bathtub.
* Pretty much ANY given US politician whom has ever been disgraced by a scandal they were in. Namely due to when they these politicians get themselves in a scandal the media [[AndThatsTerrible exploits how terrible it is]] every chance they get. (Doesn't help that some of them never really got all that well known in the media until they are in a scandal.)
* While that seems to have died down recently in the early to mid 2000's, there were known cases of Catholic priests having sex with young boys. Sadly, it went to the point that Catholic priests were competing with MichaelJackson for [[MemeticMolester biggest Pedo joke ever.]]
** Brutal, systematic abuse at Catholic schools in Ireland for over 60 years, finally reported in 2009. It may be about to start up again.
*** Catholic priests have ''always'' been regarded with some suspicion in that regard by many non-Catholics.
* Pretty much anyone who is well known mainly in supermarket tabloids.
* Samuel Adams: A great patriot during {{the American Revolution}}, one of the Founding Fathers, was largely responsible for the Boston Tea Party. What's he remembered for? Beer. He wasn't even a brewer; he was technically a maltster.
** Ethan Allen gets it even worse, though. Revolutionary War guerilla hero who, among other things, captured Fort Ticonderoga. If you mention his name today, most people will think only of the furniture company that was founded some 143 years after his death. Ethan Allen himself wasn't even a carpenter.
* David Carradine. ''Kung Fu'', ''Kill Bill'', ''The Long Riders'', hell, the man could even ''sing''. But he was found dead in a Bangkok hotel with a noose stretched between his throat and his... [[SoYeah yeah]]...
* Mel Gibson. It's been ''three years'' since "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." And yet ''TheColbertReport'' had Stephen learning that he can't get a Kosher meal during the "I don't know where I am" joke at the beginning of his Iraq visit, at which point he put a question mark next to "Mel Gibson's house".
** One could argue that that outburst has been supplanted by [[strike:Christian Torture Porn]] ''ThePassionOfTheChrist''
*** One ''could'' argue that, if one forgot that ''ThePassionOfTheChrist'' '''preceded''' the drunken rant.
* The Space Shuttle Challenger completed nine successful missions before it exploded. But there are not mentions of those. From all the stories about it, you'd think it was the maiden voyage.
** Speaking of NASA - the space program has provided many scientific and technological advances over the years, much of which has trickled down for public consumption. But if called on to name one, what's the one everyone defaults to? Tang, the instant drink powder.
* The 1969 Chappaquiddick Incident, in which a car Edward "Ted" Kennedy was driving swerved into water, causing the car's sole passenger, campaign assistant Mary Jo Kopechne, to drown. Kennedy's swimming out of the sinking car (with Kopechne trapped inside), along with Kennedy failing to report the incident, permanently stifled Kennedy's presidential hopes and ruined his credibility as a politician. Even when Kennedy died, opponents loved to remind people about the tragedy and even exploited it to discredit Kennedy ("I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney than go driving with Ted Kennedy").
* According to his biographer, Peter Lorre spent the majority of his film career trying to escape being typecast as a villain, and ultimately didn't succeed. Many of the roles he took specifically to counteract his first major role as a child-killer in ''{{M}}'' were either forgotten, downplayed by the studios, or made things even worse.
* WoodyAllen: Director, actor, screenwriter, comedian, playwright, [[SoBadItsGood musician]], writer... but what really comes to mind when he's mentioned today? Marrying the adopted daughter of his now ex-lover Mia Farrow, after serving as her father figure since she was seven (they married when she was 22 and he was 56). He's another popular target for pedophilia jokes, despite the fact that Soon-Yi Previn was a legal adult when their relationship started. One of Farrow and Allen's biological children still hasn't forgiven him for this. On top of the relationship issue has been the rapdily declining quality of Allen's films as he descended into FallenCreator status, so the only thing many younger filmgoers know him for is the marriage to Soon Yi and not the era in which his films were landmark events.
* OrsonWelles is considered to be one of the best filmmakers of all time. In popular culture, he's more well known for his later life in which he was obese and did commercials.
** On the flipside, film buffs seem to think he made no film other than ''CitizenKane''.
*** And possibly ''Touch Of Evil.''
** And few that know of his films remember that he was a great Broadway director before he went into films, directing the famous opening production of ''The Cradle Will Rock'' and an all-African-American version of ''{{Macbeth}}'' in the 1930's.
* Sir Alec Guinness expressed great irritation that he only seemed to be remembered for [[StarWars that one role]] he didn't really like in the first place and he did because [[MoneyDearBoy he needed the money]], and once flipped out at a LooneyFan who wouldn't stop pestering him. He was bitter about this to the end of his life...and naturally, every obituary for him focused more on his role in StarWars than anything else.
* ChrisColumbus wrote ''TheGoonies'', directed two ''Film/HarryPotter'' films as well as the film adaptation of ''{{RENT}}'', but is apparently going to "the ''HomeAlone'' guy" for all eternity. On the other hand, maybe he's lucky he's not "the ''{{Stepmom}}'' guy".
** Actually, ThisTroper barely associates Columbus with ''HomeAlone'', instead remembering it as being written by JohnHughes. I will always remember Columbus as being the man who made the first two godawful adaptations of HarryPotter.
* Paris Hilton, before sex tape: obscure party-hopping heiress. After sex tape: slut. There's also the famous "Wal-mart" quote. Paris later claimed she was joking at the time. And the Hardee's commercial. That's about it, really.
* White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel of Chicago is that he once mailed a dead fish to a pollster whose numbers he didn't like. Can anyone recall off the top of their heads anything else about the man?
** Yes. He's now BarackObama's Dick Cheney.
** He is also the brother of the Hollywood super-agent that Ari from Entourage was based on.
* Roman Polanski. Brilliant filmmaker. But first, he was most well known for being the husband of Sharon Tate, murdered by the Manson Family. And then he [[{{Squick}} raped a 13-year-old]] and then fled to France...
** Don't forget he was also a Holocaust survivor.
* KanyeWest may be a very talented rapper, but he's pretty much ensured by this point he will never be remembered at large for anything except his enormous ego, which has led to incidents such as: calling himself "the voice of this generation," saying that if the Bible were written today, he'd be included in it, "George Bush doesn't care about black people," and probably most infamously, grabbing the mic out of Taylor Swift's hands at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards to proclaim that Beyonce deserved the award more.
** And thereby prompting possibly the one thing Barack Obama will ever say that Republicans will without reservations agree with.
** Arguably, this is more a case of Pervasive Character Flaw than One Isolated Incident.
* {{Philadelphia}}: [[MemeticMutation They boo]] SantaClaus.
** [[ClevelandRocks Cleveland]]: Where rivers are flammable. [[spoiler:The infamous Cuyahoga River fire was ''forty'' years ago. It wasn't the first, but it ''did'' get them to clean up their act.]]
* George Bush Sr. threw up on the Japanese Prime Minister because he insisted upon attending a meeting despite having a severe cold. Following the incident, the Japanese actually adopted the word "bush" as a synonym for "to vomit".
* Dick Cheney [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace shot someone in the face]]. He already had a reputation as an EvilChancellor, but after the guy he shot ''publicly apologized for being shot'', it pretty much made sure that no one is ever going to forget that.
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[[folder:Other]]
* This is more or less the rule for all nicknames: commit one innocuously embarrassing act at the age of 8, and be nicknamed after it forever.
** Scott Adams, in ''[[{{Dilbert}} The Joy Of Work]]'', recommends not saying anything at all around witty people that they can use to make fun of you. He gives an example in which a speaker says they watched a movie last night, is called a "couch potato", and despite their best efforts is nicknamed "Spud".
* [[FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids Entertainment]] may be adamant about maintaining its policy of self-censorship, but compared to 6 years ago they have been more subtle about it, now largely relies on animation imported from countries other than Japan, and even placed subtitled episodes of some of their acquired animes on their Youtube channel. But none of this is going to change the minds of their many detractors until they see the company rot to the ground.
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