Main Tropes Index

Troperville

Editing Help

Tools

Toys

Narrative

• Universal
• Applied Phlebotinum
• Characterization
• Characters
• Characters As Device
• Dialogue
• Motifs
• Narrative Devices
• Paratext
• Plots
• Settings
• Spectacle

Genre

• Action Adventure
• Comedy
• Commercials
• Crime And Punishment
• Drama
• Horror
• Love
• News
• Professional Wrestling
• Speculative Fiction
• Sports Story
• War

Media

• Animation (Western)
• Anime
• Comic Book
• Fan Fics
• Film
• Game
• Literature
• Music And Sound Effects
• New Media
• Print Media
• Radio
• Sequential Art
• Tabletop Games
• Television
• Theater
• Videogame
• Webcomics

Topical Tropes

• Betrayal
• Censorship
• Combat
• Death
• Family
• Fate And Prophecy
• Food
• Holiday
• Memory
• Money
• Morality
• Politics
• Religion
• School

Other Categories

• British Telly
• The Contributors
• Creator Speak
• Creators
• Derivative Works
• Did Not Do The Research
• Language
• Laws And Formulas
• Show Business
• Split Personality
• Stock Room
• Trope
• Truth And Lies
• Truth In Television
• Weirdness Isolation

Medinoc: "Gentle enough to crush a butterfly" ?? Isn't there a contradiction, or am I mistaken because I'm not a native English speaker ?

Tanto: No, it's a joke. Usually such "strong but skilled" characters would be described in opposite terms.

Phartman: Yeah, the idea being that he crushes everything.

And hey, who's badmouthing Short Round? Willie was The Scrappy in that movie, and since it already took place in Asia, she technically qualifies as an Ethnic Scrappy, too.

---

Schol-R-LEA: I wasn't sure about including Hadji from Johnny Quest, or Punjab and The Asp from Little Orphan Annie, though I've put them in for now. None of them were really comic relief, and while the latter two were originally very caricatured, so were all the other characters in the series, and they were both definite Bad Ass figures meant to be intimidating rather than funny.

Ununnilium: I'd take the latter two out; they're not Scrappy-ish enough.

Later: Thusly:

• Daddy Warbuck's intimidating man-servants Punjab and Asp in Little Orphan Annie, who at least weren't comic relief (most of the time).

TheKakapo: I would agree that Hadji from Jonny Quest isn't necessarily a "scrappy," as he is elemental to the plot (especially in The Real Adventures. However, he was sometimes cringingly stereotypical. I edited the entry to include his character lift in the newer series. Actually, truth be told, he may be more of a Magical Negro than anything else.

---

Andyroid: "That kid with the undefinable Eastern European accent in Ed Edd And Eddy" is Rolf, and I'd say he's more a Funny Foreigner. Removed.

Shiralee Considering the makers of Tintin consulted Chinese people about the Yellow Peril stereotype, I'm willing to bet they were encouraged by the consultants to leave the Japanese portions alone thanks to recent events...

---

Duckluck: Took out the following exchange:

"So instead of the badass white guy, and the comical relief black guy, we'll have the badass black guy and the useless (or at least not as badass) white guy. Is this editor the only one who sees the racism still there?

• Yes."

...because it didn't belong on the main page. If anyone still cares, you can debate it here. I also added a bit about Japan that seemed in line with the picture and my own observations.

---

Charred Knight: Deleted, since as mentioned only one person had a problem with it.

• Hermes Conrad, the pointless, patronising Comedy Jamaican of Futurama. He doesn't even fit thematically! Am I the only one who can see this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
  • Hermes isn't really a Scrappy, gonk or one-dimensional stereotype... and how does he fail to fit thematically? Out of place amongst the mutants, lobster-aliens, idiots from the past, slumming rich girls, sentient robots and ancient nerds?
    • Not to mention the fact that he's a bureaucrat tends to decrease the "stereotype" aspect

---

Trouser Wearing Barbarian: Removed the Pitch Black reference, because aversions shouldn't be listed unless the trope is so omnipresent that aversions are actually noteworthy. Ethnic Scrappy wasn't exactly a universal trope in 2000.

• Nicely averted in the movie Pitch Black, where the secondary African and Middle-Eastern Muslim characters were easily the most sympathetic of the cast, and among the only survivors. In the sequel, the lead member dies in a Heroic Sacrifice against the Necromongers, defending his family.