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The more astute readers among you may have noticed that I haven't yet gone so far as to give anything an actual "F." That's not out of any kind-heartedness on my part, it's just that every time I got ready to give one out, I would ask myself, "is it really that bad, compared to the verminous, soul-tainting badness of Scrappy-Doo?"
I believe he said "how rude." It's supposed to make him endearing, but it just makes me want to take a piece of rebar to his skull.
Popular characters have fandoms. But sometimes, there's a character who has a hatedom. For trope identity's sake, we'll call this guy The Scrappy. Of course, you can't spell "Scrappy" without C-R-A-P, and this trope mostly deals with people like that.
While much depends on execution, certain kinds of characters have a much higher probability of becoming The Scrappy:
In addition, if the writers begin relying too heavily on an already-present character with some potentially annoying quirks (like The Unintelligible or the Non Human Sidekick), the viewers may begin to find him/her very annoying indeed.
Particularly awful manifestations are the Ethnic Scrappy and Alien Scrappy. If it's the performer, rather than the character, that draws the reaction, it's X Pac Heat. If the main reason the character is hated is because they're a Jonas Quinn or suddenly the protagonist, they're a Replacement Scrappy.
Not all Scrappies are doomed to their status. If the writers notice what's happening, they may change the character for the better. Or they may simply give the Scrappy a tragic death scene. If the character is a Costanza, Jerk Ass Straight Man, Butt Monkey, or Chew Toy, though, don't expect anything to change; these characters are dislikable on purpose, as it's part of their charm.
On the other hand, if the writers take a shine to The Scrappy and add some elements of Mary Sue, or give The Scrappy Character Focus over more popular characters, this will add gasoline to the flames - they've just turned The Scrappy into the dreaded Wesley. Expect anti-websites (and, more recently, dozens of anti-orkut-communities); message threads that degenerate into flamefests; and a hard fast descent into loonydom.
Whenever fanfiction (especially shipping) is involved, The Scrappy will very likely Die For Our Ship... or just die.
This trope is named after Scrappy-Doo from the Scooby Doo cartoon. The hatred of Scrappy was so prevalent that the 2002 Scooby Doo movie (which is not considered canon with respect to any other Scooby Doo series) used Scrappy as a villain, who proceeded to urinate on Daphne, despite the fact that such behaviour was not allowed.
This is a very subjective trope, more based on the fandom than the character itself. The visceral response to The Scrappy can baffle other fans who don't take the character as seriously, or even sympathize with him or her. Please only post examples of the fandom hating a character; posting Personal Scrappies could get messy.
Examples
Advertising
- Cell-phone ringtone company Jamster, for foisting the horrible creature known as "Crazy Frog" on the world. Their ads were practically all over syndicated television in the mid-2000s.
- Even worse, ruining the best thing about Beverly Hills Cop: The opening number "Axel F".
- Billy Mays, hocking everything from insurance to gardening tools to cleaning supplies. Notable for saying everything in a voice that has to be heard to be believed. Of course if you're within about two blocks of a TV airing one of his commercials you'll hear it. BECAUSE HE SCREAMS.. CONSTANTLY, EVERY DAMNED WORD.
- Here's his latest handiwork.
- UK Tropers will probably remember adverts for Cillit Bang for the same reason. HI! I'M BARRY SCOTT AND I'M BEING PAID BY THE DECIBEL!
Anime and Manga
- Chibi-Usa from Sailor Moon, and by association her English-language counterpart Rini. While she was designed to have some intentionally annoying qualities (her Fan Nickname "The Pink Spore" actually comes from an insult in the show), she was also shown to be a genuinely scared little girl away from home and caught in a convoluted plot of people trying to control or even kill her. The real trouble, however, started as she began to get much more screen time in the fourth season. Since that season was also associated with strange mood shifts and an extensive retooling of the original plot and a subsequent dip in the ratings, fans usually associate her with or even blame her for it. Ironically, by then she'd become a pretty moderate character, only to be Put On A Bus afterwards.
- In fact, one of her English voice actresses, Stephanie Beard, made a song (parodying Eminem's The Real Slim Shady) that has an interesting parallel to Chibi-Usa. Although it was meant to describe her radio show persona, the lyrics contain similarities to Chibi-Usa's character, such as the mentioning of "copycats" (Usagi), and having an arrogant and semi-bratty personality.
- Tokyo Mew Mew had both deserving and non-deserving Scrappies. Aoyama Masaya, Ichigo's love interest, is a victim of crazy shippers, but a generally nice guy all around. Shirayuki Berii, on the other hand, is a Mary Sue who completely stole the spotlight from all of the main characters in the Tokyo Mew Mew a la mode manga. (Unsurprisingly, a lot of Mew Mew fans want to forget that ever happened, which is easy because Yoshida Reiko, the author of the Tokyo Mew Mew manga was not involved in a la mode anyway.)
- Hinaichigo and Kanaria are easily the two least popular of the Rozen Maiden dolls, especially because they're seen as "less mature" than the others. Still, it's kinda sad (and also scary) watching Hina slowly wind down to her inevitable death with her master.
- Hinata Hyuuga, the painfully shy Fan Of Underdog from Naruto, is apparently The Scrappy to some fans of the show, who describe her as "a stalker" with a proto-Moe Moe personality. This is especially ironic because before the Shippuden Time Skip, Naruto himself was treated as The Scrappy by most of the characters for being a hyperactive, weirdly-dressed Bratty Half Pint ninja (and, y'know, that whole Kyuubi thing).
- Inoue Orihime from Bleach, though not originally in this field, became hated by a huge percentage of the fanbase after the series entered the Hueco Mundo Saga, which has yet to end in either the anime or the manga it's based on. This has to do with several factors, including:
- Her character turning from Genki Girl into a depressed mope due to her finally showing the emotional damage from losing her brother and realizing her love for Ichigo, who's almost constantly fighting without her,
- Her being the necessitation of another Rescue Arc,
- Her suddenly being declared a living Deus Ex Machina, with powers that all but assure no one can ever die in the series, a trend that was already annoying many people, and
- Her confessing her feelings for Ichigo, invoking ire from hardcore Ichigo/Rukia shippers and Rukia fans who accuse Orihime of stealing her spotlight as the series' main heroine.
- Before Orihime, there was Hinamori Momo, Aizen's sweet and cheerful but naive and obsessive Woobie of a lieutenant. She was brainwashed into unquestioned obedience by Aizen for decades, leading her to attack her best friend/adoptive brother Hitsugaya Toushirou because Aizen said it in a letter he left for her before faking his death and she didn't even investigate further because she was too caught up in her confusion, thus incurring the wrath of rabid and possessive Hitsugaya fangirls, for he is the character they love the most (so much that he got his own movie). It became even worse when after she came back after being stabbed to almost certain death as part of Aizen's plan, Momo is in such heavy denial and so damaged that she still thinks he is partially innocent (and that Ichimaru Gin is the one actually responsible), begging him to be saved. This has attained her further hatred for fans because Gin is a Draco In Leather Pants.
- Despite all the hatred, Hinamori still places in the top 10 in Shonen Jump popularity polls (reaching as high as sixth place at one point), for the same reason Western fans dislike her.
- However, Momo has made a comeback and has seemingly taken a noticeable level in badass, protecting Matsumoto and assuming that she's still got things to do. We'll see if she manages to turn the tables on her haters.
- From the bad guys' side, blind fighter Tousen Kaname gets heat for hypocritically promoting the path of least bloodshed, but siding with Aizen in the Shinigami-Arrancar war.
- Raki from Claymore seems to be ascending to this status with astonishing speed since this series came out in the West. He's clingy, irritatingly prone to being held hostage in some manner, and utterly useless in any way conceivable. That alone would be tolerable. Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to throw himself into dangerous situations, even after Clare expressly tells him not to, leading to a number of instances where Clare is forced to go out of her way to save him. Additionally, his blatant Ascended Fanboy character type rubs many people the wrong way in a series otherwise full of kickass females, and his presence seems to be purely so male readers of the manga can put themselves in his shoes. With recent developments in the manga, this may be subject to change.
- The so-called president of the Aria Company in ARIA is considered to be very annoying even by fans of the series, being a badly drawn cat in an otherwise fairly realistic setting. Of course, ARIA really isn't about much at all, but the "president" chews up a lot of the scenery without actually doing anything remotely important or funny.
- Code Geass reached a point in its second season where calling any single character The Scrappy became pointless, since between Ship To Ship Combat and Magnificent Bastardry giving way to just plain old bastardry, damn near every single plot-important character was now the proud owner of an internet Hatedom. Only Lelouch's spectacular leather pants save him from the worst of it. In the end, however, most seem to agree that the character they dislike the most isn't Suzaku, or Nina, or Rolo, or Nunnally, or Kallen, or even Schneizel, but...Kaname Ougi, who lost his Darkhorse status after a certain point in the second season.
- Mai-Otome's Tomoe Marguerite is widely considered the least likable, if not the most evil, character on the show by a pretty wide margin. Some fans suspect the only thing that kept her from being killed off is the director's and head writer's praise of Tanaka Rie's vocal performance.
- Series heroine Arika Yumemiya, while not quite an extreme case as Tomoe, is billed by her detractors as "indecisive", "weak-willed", and "having an annoying voice"... and to some other fans, being a poor replacement for Mai.
- Major Sergey Wang gets a lot of hate in some circles, because his interaction with Arika and Nina makes him come off as a Lolicon at times, even though it's Nina who takes the initiative (and that, among other things has turned some people off to Nina), and also because he reminds some fans (visually) of Yuuichi (see below).
- A sizable contingent of Mai-HiME fandom has it in for male lead character Yuuichi Tate, as the Non Action Guy Love Interest of the Red Headed Heroine. His case isn't helped much by some of the questionable actions he took to finally getting around to showing his affections, most coming at the expense of his Unlucky Childhood Friend Shiho Munakata.
- Shiho gets quite a bit of this, as well, because of her clinginess and jealous attitude and several attempts on Mai's life.
- Mai's close friend Mikoto Minagi has her share of detractors, as well, because they think she's just too weird and childlike to be an effective part of the team.
- Italian fandom tends to hate on Shizuru instead. Yes, that Shizuru. Mostly because of her "creepy" obsession with Natsuki, her near-molestation of her love interest and her killing lots of people in order to "protect" her. Shiho and Yuuichi are fairly respected instead.
- Makoto Itou from School Days, who was very likely intentionally intended to be a Scrappy by his creators. Mind you, most (if not all) of the cast members tend to inspire their own varying degrees of hatedoms, what with their repeated Too Dumb To Live moments, but Makoto easily stands out due to being utterly reprehensible in addition to being a gigantic idiot.
- This was reversed in the manga version: Makoto is still a big moron, but at least there he does care for the girls. Sekai, who is now a manipulative bitch, replaces Makoto in the Scrappy Heap.
- Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji Ikari is a very polarising figure, to say the least. Though meant to be a deconstruction of ordinary Humongous Mecha heroes, fan reaction appears to be evenly split between feeling genuinely sorry for all the crap he had to go through and wanting to put the poor bastard out of his misery to get him to stop his bitchin'.
- Asuka Langley Soryuu, his fellow pilot and possible Love Interest, also has her fair share of haters who think she's just a horrible, terrible, arrogant bitch.
- Kagome Higurashi from Inuyasha is also a somewhat divisive character. While she started out as the typical Takahashi Tsundere, taking any opportunity (no matter how small or ridiculous) to berate and cause physical pain to her love interest, Character Development eventually showed her growing out of it, and almost completely stop using her ability to punish Inuyasha, as well as tending to be gentler and more understanding. But lots of people still hate her and think that, within the story itself (and sometimes in fandom itself), she's a poor Replacement Scrappy for Kikyou...which makes no sense, because Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyou.
- As for Kikyou, she was a powerful Miko with hidden insecurities who had quite the bad death, was forcefully revived by a witch, had a highly antagonistic relationship with both villains and heroes to the point of giving a part of the Shikon Jewel to Naraku, her own murderer, to make sure he was lulled into a false sense of security before she killed him herself, slowly returned to her former gentler self and ultimately died almost happily in the manga. But she'll always be, to some, the backstabbing "clay pot bitch" who keeps Inuyasha and Kagome away from each other. Again, "reincarnation", so it makes little sense.
- While it's unclear where he stands in the Japanese fandom, Naito Longchamp from Katekyo Hitman Reborn! was near-universally despised by a large percentage of overseas fans due largely to his goofy appearance and rambunctiously annoying personality. This only applies to the manga, however; the anime wound up writing him out of the plot entirely. However, this may be undergoing a reverse process — after the Adaptation Decay present in the Future Arc of the anime, fans have claimed that Longchamp appearing may be the only thing that can save the show.
- Misa Amane from Death Note has a pretty healthy hatedom for the fact that she sticks out like a sore thumb, either endlessly talks about how she loves Light or whines about circumstances keeping them apart, and otherwise just calls a ton of attention to herself without contributing much.
- Depending on which segment of the Ronin Warriors fandom you ask, this role could be taken on by any combination of Natsuti/Mia, Jun/Yulie, Lady Kayura or Suzunagi from the OAV.
- Mayu Miyuki from Ai Yori Aoshi is widely regarded as the biggest Scrappy of the series, due largely in part to her clinginess to Kaoru and general cattiness with Cat Smiler Tina Foster. Behind her, Taeko Minazuki's young cousin Chika is a real hyper character with slight Mary Sue hints added for good measure. The fact her deeply tanned skin gives slight images of Ethnic Scrappydom (although she's supposed to be Japanese) doesn't help.
- Likewise, despite being all Moe Moe and a Gadgeteer Genius, Skuld from Ah My Goddess has some slight Scrappy moments, especially when her obsession with her older sister Belldandy comes into play. Unlike Urd, who was able to grow out of her tendencies to screw with Bell and Keiichi's love life, Skuld continues to be the world's biggest cock-blocker.
- Being the star of one's own show doesn't necessarily offer Protection From Scrappy. Just ask any Fushigi Yuugi fan who's ever accused Miaka Yuuki of being a Mary Sue. Truth be told, she's hardly as bad as Mayo Sakaki from the Eikoden OVA.
- There appears to be at least one of these in every Gundam series.
- The Yandere Nena Trinity of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 gained instant Scrappy status right around episode 18 after she opened fire at the wedding ceremony of Louise's parents and killed lots of innocent people because she could. Fan hatred softened a bit when she watched her beloved brothers Johan and Michael die at the hands of Ali Al-Saachez, since it's partially because of them doting on her endlessly that she gets to do what she wants. Even after those events, we're not quite sure if she's learned her lesson: from what little we've been told about her in the last seconds of the final episode of season 1, she's observing both Wang Liu Mei (her new employer) and Ian Vasty unveiling the titular Gundam 00 (finally), in a rather creepy method as if she's spying on them for her own purposes.
- Wang Liu Mei who spent the first episode being a Ms Fanservice has slowly gaining her own hatedom for being too secretive and seems like to be a Smug Snake in training, for her plan to 'destroy the world she hates, through change', but she never EVER give out any bits of reasons why she hated that current world, giving off the impression like "I'm doing it for the lulz". This piling up hatred actually ends up rescuing Nena from the heap when she helps out the Celestial Being as a Take That for helping her brothers' murderer.
- Saji Crossroad may be well on his way back here in season 2 for being selfish and practically ignorant of Celestial Being's efforts to pay for their sins, even after Tieria already told him that the world conflict cannot be resolved with simple pacifism, and to see the world through his own eyes. This eventually piles up in the most recent episode: he tried to run away from the Kataron base alone, then got taken by the Federation, in which he tells his story to Sergei, only to have an A-Laws conspirator spy on their conversation and leak the Kataron base location to the enemy. As a result, the base got assaulted and many innocent people died... all because Saji was too selfish about his opinions. Nice Job Breaking It, Civilian. It doesn't help that later in episode 12, he STILL blamed the Celestial Being for many of his misfortunes and had the nerve to punch Setsuna out for telling him to fight (as it's the only way to go as of now).
- How DARES Saji show realistic emotional damage after all the shit he's gone through? HOW. DARES. HE. CONTRADICT. MY. HAWT BISHIES?
- Gundam SEED also has its share of Scrappies: Yzak Joule for treating Athrun like crap and for the Kick The Dog act he pulled in episode 11 (shooting at a civilian shuttle and killing everyone, mistaking it for fleeing Federation soldiers); Lacus Clyne for being a Purity Sue-like Yamato Nadeshiko (but like Momo from Bleach, Japan loves her for that exact reason); and Flay Allster because she used sex to lure Kira Yamato to his death, as punishment for failing to save her father from an horrible death in space...
- Try finding a Gundam X fan who likes Olba, the younger of the Frost brothers. "Whiny, flamboyant male Yandere with a brother complex" doesn't even cover it.
- Going back even further to the UC era, Katz Kobayashi from Zeta Gundam is hated for being gullible and stubborn as well as obsessed with enemy pilot Sarah Zaviaroff. It is no surprise that the fandom squealed with joy when he died by his own stupidity when he crashed into an asteroid.
- Both Quess Paraya and Hathaway Noa from {{Char's Counterattack}} could also be considered Scrappies.
- In The Prince Of Tennis, there are several characters with healthy hatedoms:
- Main character Ryoma Echizen himself, for being a borderline Marty Stu and behaving like a jerk (especially toward rival and unexpected fan favorite Keigo Atobe who, according to his fans, can absolutely do NO wrong),
- Tomoka Osakada, for being a loud self-appointed Echizen fangirl who can sometimes be pushy, airheaded and bitchy;
- Sakuno Ryuzaki, for being a klutz and a bit of an Extreme Doormat in the anime, though her less klutzy manga self is quite better regarded.
- Satoshi Horio, for being a loudmouthed Non Action Guy who brags and talks yet accomplishes nothing,
- Seiichi Yukimura, for being a girly-looking mixture of Ill Girl and Magnificent Bastard who will do almost anything to let his team win and gets in betwen Atobe and Sanada, and
- Jackal Kuwahara, for being the only Rikkai guy who plays normal tennis and stealing what rabid fangirls perceived as Hiroshi Yagyuu's designated place in the finals.
- Shiro Emiya from Fate/stay night shares the same problem with Miaka of 'being a Scrappy even though he's the star of the show', since he's considered an 'idiotic Martyr Without A Cause', and the fact that he embodies No Guy Wants An Amazon. Even though Saber is clearly far more powerful than him and can protect him better, he still insists that 'he must protect everyone'. Worse yet, most Fate Stay Night fans come from those who've watched the anime, which focuses on the Fate route, where Shiro refused to change his naive ideals, making it worse for him in general (on the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel paths, he doesn't act this way).
- And in the same series, there's a bigger Scrappy: Shinji Matou. His crimes are numerous, and while Shiro who at least had an Awesome moment or two despite his Scrappyism, Shinji got none. He's a self-serving Smug Snake who treats his friends like garbage, and a weak magus but thinks himself too great and forces his way into the war... by forcing Sakura to yield Rider to him, and treats her like garbage anyway, calling her weak at times despite him actually holding back her true powers. He still scolds and abuses Sakura a lot for 'staying' with Shiro, even raping her (maybe Rider too) on a daily basis to vent his frustration.
- Pokemon, being a Long Runner with a broad fandom, features many characters who receive hated by some groups. Replacement Scrappies are multiple. Characters with a particularly large hatedom include the following:
- Out of the main cast, Max gets the most hate. Certainly being an insufferable know-it-all and his apparent pointlessness qualify him as prime Scrappy material. However, strangely enough, he didn't make it to the point of being The Wesley even though he had all the potential to become one of these. Plus he did have some decently-done Moments Of Heartwarming.
- The classic Scrappy from the series is Ritchie, a clone of Ash who has no negative qualities and was introduced just to knock Ash out of his first tournament in the following episode. The writers proceeded to bring him back for a Johto mini-arc and then have two episodes in Chronicles focus on him.
- Dawn's rivals are bashed for not being as interesting as the rivals from the previous arc, but Zoey has especially gained a hatedom for her perceived nosy attitude and insistence that everyone follow her viewpoint on Gyms and Contests, which only came up twice before she changed her mind about it. So now she's being bashed for simply being blunt (this troper has the sneaking suspicion that were she a male rival, she'd be loved for it...)
- Butch and Cassidy get a lot of crap for their Character Derailment into the Team Rocket of the spin-off series, since their usual popularity comes from being a foil of Jessie and James. Thankfully, this was reset in their later appearances in the main series.
- Togepi is blamed for Misty losing her personality in Johto. It didn't help that it just sat in her arms and did nothing of any interest for four years. When her character was restored on leaving the regular cast, Togepi was swiftly put on a more permanent bus.
- Piplup, on the other hand, has become one to much of the fanbase for the opposite reason. It's "forced mascot" status isn't helping matters.
- And lest any of May's Pokémon be left out of the pile, her Squirtle made a bad first impression with the entire cheapness surrounding its first contest victory and the hate hasn't stopped since.
- Though he's still loved by many people, Brock is viewed this way by a segment of the fanbase, due to his girl craziness and the fact that he rarely ever does anything interesting or important.
- If this troper remembers correctly, his declining popularity was the entire reason he was Put On A Bus the first time. And Tracey turned out to have a worse fanbase.
- Let's not forget Ash. Like with Miaka, being the main character doesn't save one from being a Scrappy. Oh, and Pikachu. This troper remembers people on Usenet groups who hated the little mouse so much they wanted to see it cooked and eaten.
- No
love hate for Tracey? Just what the hell is a Pokemon Watcher, anyway?
- Let's just say that to some group of people any or at least one character is the scrappy.
- Kiryuu Nanami, The Libby from Revolutionary Girl Utena, has proven to be an "unfavorite" even among the writing staff, having only been given bit parts in the move and manga adaptations of the series. Is it sad? Probably not, once you watch the series and get to know her.
- Detective Conan gives us the Detective Boys. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta are normal children who unknowingly befriend an undercover Teen Genius in a series filled with complex murder mysteries. Thus, they tend to ignore all his instructions of caution which puts their lives in danger or comes close to blowing his cover multiple times. They even view Conan as the lowest member of the group while trying to stop him taking all the credit for helping solve cases. They do get better in the manga, as they come to appreciate Conan's talent, start to develop their own abilities, and befriend another Teen Genius (Ai Haibara) who keeps them more in line, but this is generally not reflected in the anime fillers where they will remain in Scrappy status in the eyes of many fans.
- Eureka Seven has Eureka's "children" (she adopted them) Link, Mayter, and Maurice, or as most fans will say "the annoying brats". Not only are their voices annoying and extremely grating whenever they open their mouths, but they serve no real purpose other than to provide "comedy" in the form of torturing Renton, and to get Holland, Eureka, and the others in trouble (see episode 40). Even worse, during The Great Wall Arc (from about episode 40 up until the end of the series) they become important semi-major characters. Can I get a Face Palm here?
- May Wong from Kaleido Star. While she DID start as a Tsundere-ish Spoiled Brat, she does have a good share of Character Development... but people still whine and bitch about how "meeeeeaaaaan she is Sora" and "how much of a MARY SUUUUEEEE she is".
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: While we're definitely not suppose to like or agree with Rossiu after the Time Skip, the fact that many fans still don't forgive him even after almost all of the other character did qualifies him for this.
- Of course, your mileage may vary, as this troper thought he was just doing what had to be done to preserve the government while not really wanting to execute Simon and being stoic about his decision. Because of this, this troper cannot read any forums about the show, as it causes damage to both his head and walls.
Comic Books
- Post Crisis Jason Todd was hated by quite a few readers, to the point that fans eventually voted for him to be killed by the Joker.
- They brought him back as a vengeful villain. Or a universe-hopping hero, depending which comic book you read.
- Peter David wrote a book called Mascot To the Rescue! which involves, among other things, comic fans voting to kill off an obvious Expy of Jason and an actual fan of Mascot campaigning to save him. Better Than It Sounds.
- Morlun and Ezekiel. What's wrong with the classic Spider-Man characters?
Film
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has two of them: Ethnic Scrappy Tagalong Kid Short Round and largely useless Distressed Damsel Willie Scott. Of course, there are also plenty of fans who actually love Shorty, especially for his funny interactions with Indy, not to mention being a brave young warrior with foul mouth but a kind heart. Mutt from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull seems to be close to this status for being Indie's son and at least partly for being played by Shia LeBeouf.
- Jar-Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequel trilogy. This one is so (in)famous that people who have never seen any of the Star Wars films hate him anyway (including people who have seen the original films but not the more recent ones). According to many fans, he's the one character who completes the rare trifecta of being The Scrappy, an Alien Scrappy and, many would argue, an Ethnic Scrappy as well. None of them found this supposed Plucky Comic Relief character either plucky or comical. (Discuss!) It seems George Lucas got the message, giving Jar Jar Binks a smaller role in Episode II and removing him almost entirely from Episode III.
- Though Lucas seemed intent to change 3PO into the substitute Scrappy for Episode II at the very least to make up for Jar-Jar.
- 3PO already got some flare in Empire Strikes Back... in an interview, he said some people considered the android "the worst character ever".
- This editor is not suicidal enough to say he actually liked Jar Jar but he always found C3PO far more annoying.
- And the worst thing is that he survives all the way throughout most of the Star Wars EU. He even gets to have kids...Damn you Jar Jar, here to hope you get another dose of swamp gas!
- Jacen Solo from the Expanded Universe isn't thought of very highly, either, especially since his character crossed the line into unforgivable bastardry.
- Ahsoka Tano seems to already be hated within two days her first appearance, largely for daring to be a teenage girl in a cast of twenty year old men (ignoring the fact that she's technically as old as the average Republic soldier) ...in a movie aimed at teenagers.
- In the opinion of this troper, The Movie showed that she is at least likeable, if not a low-level Bad Ass in training.
- I beg to differ. In a cartoon filled with Wall Bangers and groan worthy quotes, Asoka contributed the lion's share. That and her shirt is the stupidest thing since slave Leia's bikini.
- One the show is pretty good, two most people found Leia's slave bikini sexy (granted something no one should wear)
- It's entirely possible that the reason people hate her is because SHE IS AN ANNOYING TURD THAT WON'T SHUT UP. EVER. Sorry, don't know what came over me there.
- A major part of the painful experience that is watching The Wild World Of Batwoman (even with Mike, Tom and Crow) is the unfunny antics of Heathcliff.
- Was there anybody who actually found Speed Racer's little brother Spritle funny instead of rage-inducing?
- Minya, AKA the "Son Of Godzilla" is often panned by Godzilla fans of all ages due to his goofy nature and the fact that he starred in Godzilla's Revenge which is considered the worst of the Japanese Godzilla films.
- Abigail Whistler from Blade: Trinity.
Literature
- Although A Song Of Ice And Fire has a number of characters you could call "controversial," nobody really fits this trope like Darkstar. He managed to inspire an entire hatedom based on his appearance in a single chapter. (Whether said hatedom is serious or just for laughs is up for debate.) And unlike other controversial characters, it doesn't seem like anybody actually likes the guy. A deliberate attempt at an Ensemble Darkhorse Gone Horribly Wrong.
- The Wheel Of Time series has Faile as the most hated character by far. It didn't help that her introduction as a Slap Slap Kiss Rescue Romance Love Interest hardly made sense at all, or that her entire culture believes men and women in love should yell at each other in a never-ending struggle for dominance. Not that her personality is any more obnoxious than any other female character from The Wheel of Time, but that's another story...
- As the series neared it's ultimate conclusion, Harry Potter reached a point where calling any single character The Scrappy became pointless, as Ship To Ship Combat and Alternate Character Interpretation made damn near every single plot-important character become the proud owner of an internet Hatedom. Dolores Umbridge could count, as fans hate her more than the Big Bad Voldemort, but then again, she was written for the sole reason to be despised.
- Within The Vampire Chronicles fandom (the segment this troper was involved in, at least) few characters get as much malice as Merrick, a never-before-seen crossover from a different Anne Rice series who somehow became a titular character. Many fans consider her to be the author's personal Mary Sue (evidenced by her impossibly beautiful and talented self showing up out of nowhere and immediately becoming beloved by all other characters, including the previously gay narrator, David) and argue that the entire novel reads like bad fan fiction (people behaving out-of-character, presence of a Mary Sue, ridiculously pointless plot even for Anne Rice...you get the idea). Fans who had managed to survive past Queen of the Damned (which was simultaneously loved and reviled by fans) agreed that this novel was officially the moment the series Jumped The Shark and put all the blame squarely on Merrick's shoulders. Cue dozens of FanFics wherein the character is either ignored or killed outright, sometimes to the point of having other characters kill her for being so annoying.
- Daniel, the "interviewer" of Interview With A Vampire has his own hatedom as well. His habit of puppy-dogging behind Armand earned him the nickname "Daniel the Spaniel" from many, many writers.
Live Action TV
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation had one - Venus, the female turtle trained in the art of Shinobi who was deliberately not related to any of the boys so that a relationship wasn't out of the question. It didn't stop her being so hated that her entire existence has now been denied. Maybe one day we'll get a female turtle who doesn't need supernatural powers to fight, but it's unlikely. Thanks a lot, Venus.
- Wesley Crusher from Star Trek The Next Generation. You have to feel for poor Wil Wheaton; he's actually a good actor who was stuck with a character he openly admits was terrible, and who the writers refused to change to actually make him tolerable. The rest of his career has basically been one big apology for Wesley Crusher.
- Neelix from Star Trek Voyager. It's no surprise that when Tuvok is struggling with homicidal impulses, his means of testing his self control is trying, (and failing), to keep himself from strangling Neelix— sadly, it turned out to be a holodeck simulation. No jury in the world would've convicted him, either.
- Joxer from Xena Warrior Princess, at least between seasons 2 and 4 for hogging screentime. When the fans finally started to tolerate him around season 5, the writers killed him off.
- Chachi from Happy Days. He was popular when Happy Days was running; this is an example of hindsight.
- Hindsight indeed, given that this troper remembers Chachi regularly getting the female audience screams upon entrance that the Fonz used to get.
- Kim Bauer from 24, owed heavily to her irrelevant plotlines that only take time away from the main story than anything she actually does.
- Actually, This Troper considers Kim The Scrappy more for her mindblowing stupidity and attitude problems. Giving your mother shit because she's pregnant is absolutely NOT cool.
- The Brady Bunch's Cousin Oliver.
- Billie "Sue" Jenkins in Charmed.
- Guido from My Parents Are Aliens was introduced in Series 8 (the last series, perhaps not surprisingly).
- Randy Pearson in That 70's Show, for being Eric's sort of Jonas Quinn.
- Justin from Power Rangers Turbo, the quintessential example of a kid's dream gone horribly, horribly wrong.
- Alpha 5 and 6 in the early Power Rangers seasons could also qualify. While Alpha 5 was dorky-but-lovable, Alpha 6 was an attempt to make Alpha cool by using forced-hip slang ("Yo, Rangers!"). It's
likely no coincidence that after one season, he was damaged, and his voice chip needed to be replaced with one of Alpha 5's.
- Maya, the Too Dumb To Live plague-creating "heroine" who was introduced to us in Season 2 of Heroes became The Scrappy of the show in record time. The poor girl's entire lengthy story was a Trapped By Mountain Lions plot and had fans begging for her death at the hands of Sylar even before the two characters met. Here's a hint for the writers; If a character dies and is brought back to life almost immediately afterwards, and the fandom is angry that the character is still alive... you know you've got a Scrappy on your hands.
- To a lesser degree, Mohinder fits this bill as well. While he's always been a relatively useless character - not because of his lack of powers but because of his amazing ability to consistently trust the wrong people - he truly became Too Dumb To Live in Season 2 when (he joined The Company to act as a deep-cover operative and help bring it down from the inside THEN turned traitor on Noah Bennet despite having seen countless examples - both in Season 1 and Season 2 - of The Company being hopelessly corrupt and self-serving.)
- Worse, Season 3 has paired Mohinder and Maya, which almost everyone can agree is a match made in Hell. EVEN WORSE, Mohinder suddenly gains Spider-Man like abilities and an inexplicable compulsion to steal people and encase them in cocoons. Maya missed an opportunity to pull herself out of the Scrappy heap when she found out about Mohinder's new "habit." She almost killed him with her ability but Mohinder SOMEHOW talked her out of it. [1]!
- Adric in Doctor Who. Apparently, the purpose was to create a character who reflected their prime fan base, so the production team came up with a snotty, pompous, whining, arrogant and almost entirely unbearable maths geek, and then gave the part to a young man who had never acted in anything before ever and (to speak generously) failed to distinguish himself in the role. Thanks, guys. It doesn't help that, despite his apparently unparalleled intelligence (and his incredible arrogance about it), Adric is inevitably the member of the TARDIS crew who either completely screws up the Doctor's plan or gets suckered in to helping the villai
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