The Scrappy - Television Tropes & Idioms

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?"

— Lore Fitzgerald Sjöberg, The Book of Ratings

Popular characters have fandoms. But sometimes, there is a character who has a hatedom. We'll call this guy The Scrappy. While much depends on execution, certain kinds of characters have a much higher probability of being hated:

The Ace, when used for the wrong situation.
The Barney, a character (even the central one) hated immensely outside the specific demographic it was meant for.
A Bratty Half Pint.
A Cousin Oliver is very likely to irritate the fans by upsetting the standard character dynamic.
A Damsel Scrappy, for not doing anything plot-relevant and being the subject of distracting side-plots.
A Jerkass, when not Played For Laughs, and even if they are they still can get this by making the main character(s) life a living hell.
The Load, simply for hanging around the heroes and becoming a liability to them.
The Reckless Sidekick, when they never contribute anything but getting themselves captured all the time.
A Smug Snake, especially if he/she does something so heinous they stop being "cool", though some are made this way on purpose.
The Suspiciously Similar Substitute will undoubtedly be hated by fans of the character they replace.

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 Replacement Character 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 simply give him/her/it 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 otherwise put more focus on them over more popular/likable 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 the writer's chosen pairing. Even if they aren't technically involved in the Ship.

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.

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, especially if the Scrappy is in at the center of a Fandom Rivalry. Die For Our Ship entries should also be placed on that trope page only.