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alternative title(s): Authors Darling; The Wesley; Shilling The Wesley

Please don't list this on a work's page as a trope.
Examples can go on the work's YMMV tab.

Creator's Pet

There are certain characters who receive a lot of hatred from the fanbase for one reason or another. Most often, when their creators pick up on the hate, it's ignored, Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, or even played into. Sometimes, however, the creator(s) become so attached to this character that they spend increasing amounts of time focusing on him, magnifying the importance of his role, and having the other characters talk about how awesome he is, in painful ignorance of — or sometimes in spite of — the fans' hatred.

That's the Creator's Pet in a nutshell.

The main characteristic of the Creator's Pet is that the writers' focus on him is detrimental to the show. It's not that the parts featuring this character necessarily suck more than the rest, but that so much effort is being directed to him that it detracts from the quality of the series as a whole. It's as if the writers think that there's nothing more important than browbeating the viewers into falling in love with this one character. And it never works. In fact, shilling a character excessively can cause other characters to be drawn into the hatred.

Once a Creator's Pet has been identified, there are only a few ways to reliably prevent the show from Jumping the Shark. Put on a Bus is the easiest, followed by killing him off outright. Some shows may substitute Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence if his "pet" status gets absorbed into canon. While it is at least possible for the Creator's Pet to be Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, it's rare and takes considerable writing talent. Lastly, if the character is too important to get rid of, he could become The Artifact.

Keep in mind that this isn't "The Scrappy with a big role", nor is it the Canon Sue, although there's a lot of overlap in both cases. The Creator's Pet is a combination of being:

Hated by fans (The Scrappy)
Loved by the writers
Put into big scenes for no reason (Character Focus)
Talked up by the other characters (Character Shilling)

If it doesn't meet these criteria, then it doesn't fit.

Compare Spotlight-Stealing Squad, which happens when Character Focus pushes a lot of the other characters out of the limelight for an extended period of time; Periphery Hatedom, when this kind of character is hated by people he's not even targeted at; the Canon Sue, which is frequently also this trope by default; and the GMPC, which is often this in a Role-Playing Game.

Compare Character Shilling, which is unwarranted praise for one character by one or more other characters, regardless of fan reaction. Contrast The Poochie, whom the creators get rid of as quickly as possible, the Unpopular Popular Character and the Designated Monkey, who's adored by fans despite being loathed in-universe. Finally contrast Ensemble Darkhorse, a character who receives relatively little Character Focus but is adored by fans. On the flip side, take note of Creator Breakdown and Artist Disillusionment, which can happen when the author vehemently disagrees with the fans and takes it out on the show.

Note: Although this is YMMV, only blatantly obvious or creator-acknowledged examples should be listed in the pages below.