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Rescued From The Scrappy Heap / Anime & Manga

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Hated characters who've subsequently been Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.

A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. Examples shouldn't be added for 9 months. This is measured from the point when the character was introduced or became hated.

  • Koizumi Kyoko from 20th Century Boys is first presented as an overtly comedic Butt-Monkey akin to Heckel from Monster, and just as out of place. However, once she gets sent to Friend Land and becomes more involved in the central story, she becomes quite sympathetic and one of the characters the audience can most identify with, as a regular person thrown into the center of an epic battle against an evil conspiracy.
  • Attack on Titan: Historia, after several chapters of cooperating with her father and seemingly working against the Survey Corps was increasingly loathed by many fans, reaching peak contempt when it looked like she was going to eat Eren. Then she turned on her father and freed Eren, redeeming her in the eyes of many.
  • Bakemonogatari:
  • Elizabeth Middleford of Black Butler in chapter 57. This sweet, adorable and harmless Damsel in Distress reveals herself as a Badass Adorable in Chapter 57 and confesses that she desperately wanted for her fiancĂ© Ciel to not see her "uncute" side, and deliberately hid her badass side up until then. Even nearly at the cost of her own life. Shortly after Ciel berates her for such behavior (Prioritizing lady-manners over survival), when she is about to die while Ciel, who despite his best efforts ends up injured and unable to save her, is in danger, Elizabeth spontaneously leaps into action and stabs down the zombies using swords in both hands. While tearfully declaring that she'll protect him, even.
  • Bleach During the Training from Hell segment of the Bount arc, Ririn's smug demeanor and grating laugh (in addition to the grating length of that segment itself) made her almost insufferable. After she officially joined the team, she becomes much more tolerable.
  • Raki from Claymore, post time-skip. From a whiny little "protect her" obsessed powerless crybaby to... THAT. There should be a limit to these things. He manages to talk down a medieval angry mob, smiling all the way, and (to put it in perspective,) he's holding himself off from awakening due to the death pikes harder than one of the female hybrid Claymores, which actually managed to turn the second strongest Claymore into a cat-monster-thing with no resemblance to a mind. Think about that. Although it's been implied that it's not due to him, but to...something...on his back.
  • Code Geass:
    • Suzaku Kururugi after Lelouch Geass-es him to "Live!", which causes him to revert from his fake (and hypocritical) nice guy persona to his brash, rude, and brutally honest "true self".
    • Then we have Rolo Lamperouge, performing a heartwrenching Heroic Sacrifice in order to take Lelouch away from being shot by the Black Knights, killing himself in the process through Geass overuse.
  • Danganronpa 3 has Juzo as a mild example. His characterization of having deep down (deep deep down, beneath layers and layers of sheer jackassness) a golden heart and caring for his friends, being hinted at episode 8 that he was one of the few people who actually care for Kimura, slowly becoming the show's sole Mr. Fanservice (his collar keeps getting lower and his muscle shirt seems tighter). Revealing that he has some sort of Unrequited Love for Chisa, or maybe Munakata, has humanized him for fans and while he is still hated by a group, the fact that Ruruka became an even bigger scrappy than he is, and the fact that he intends to kill her made him more liked in the fandom. Some fans actually state that will like him more if he goes through with it.
    • He becomes such a major rescue, it started a meme of "SHSL Redeem", after the events above listed, he gets stabbed by Munakata, making him tragic, and is even more tragic when, in the following episode, he is confirmed to have been in love with Munakata ever since they met, making him also the first canon gay character of the franchise. After that, he reveals that the stabbing did not killed him, he comes back, saves Makoto's life and has a Dying Moment of Awesome in which he turns off the power of the building, which turns off the brainwashing monitors and the bracelets, finishing the Final Killing Game at the cost of bleeding out while doing it. The man went from one of the most hated characters in the entire series to one the most beloved ones! Fans even starting making posts in which they apologize for hating Juzo.
    • Munakuta was also Rescued from the Scrappy Heap as well knowing that his Brainwashed and Crazy girlfriend has been corrupting into becoming a Knight Templar. His two actions that made him seem like he crossed the Moral Event Horizon became averted after some reveals. Come to Side: Hope, a lot of fans became upset over his Downer Ending making it one of the major criticisms over that ending.
    • If one still hates Yasuhiro coming into this anime, then they may loosen up on him in this anime as he ended up becoming a lot kinder and shows more interest in his classmates. His attempts to get inside the main building to save his classmates was proven to be huge comic relief in an anime that was accused of having a lot of apathetic moments thus making a case of Trapped by Mountain Lions not being a bad thing.
  • Digimon Adventure: (2020): Mimi, who while easily the most polarizing of the original Digi Destined children in the original series who gained most of her popularity in subsequent series, is more widely liked here for being a lot less bratty and is instead widely considered one of the most popular of the Digi Destined children in this iteration. One major example of this is the arc where Mimi ends up with an entire castle, where the original Mimi became a bratty princess the reboot Mimi became their Benevolent Boss.
  • Dragon Ball:
    • Mr. Satan was initially a very divisive character in the west, due to being a Small Name, Big Ego Glory Hound that takes credit for Gohan killing Cell. (He did get one Moment of Awesome when he put himself in danger to carry Android 16's head up to Gohan.) He became a much more universally-liked character in the Buu saga, where he gets a significant amount of Character Development by showing that he's genuinely well-meaning, which is best showcased when he manages to befriend Majin Buu. In addition, he is one of the major factors in Goku and Vegeta being able to save the universe from Kid Buu, since he convinces the people of earth to give their energy to fight Kid Buu. He winds up walking away from it all with the genuinely impressive feat of being the only mortal character in the entire series (minus characters introduced afterwards) to never have died. It also helps that the Buu saga made it more of a point to show how the heroes don't want attention, which helps make his credit-stealing in the Cell saga easier to swallow.
    • The english dub of Dragon Ball Super did this to Copy-Vegeta, who was poorly recieved for his ugly, uninteresting design. In the dub, he's voiced by Brian Drummond, who was the voice of Vegeta in the original Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z. Seeing him and Christopher Sabat duke it out in a literal case of Dueling Dubs was an appealing piece of fanservice that made the arc Worth It in the eyes of most viewers.
    • Zen'o and its future counterpart recieved a mixed reaction from the fanbase, since he was a Top God who acted like a six-year old child and was extremely casual about erasing universes, to the point where he held a survival tournament where the losers would get their entire universe erased. It didn't particularly help that he erased the entire Future Trunks timeline, even if doing so was genuinely justified by how badly Zamasu had corrupted it. However, The Reveal in the final episode of the Universe Survial arc helped alievate this - it turned out that the whole tournament was a Secret Test of Character ennacted by both of them to see if the winner would wish back all the losers with the Dragon Balls. If they failed, all of existance would have been erased on the spot. It helped made them much more likable and make their methods come across as much less petty and childish, even if they were still slightly terrifying and fell under Blue-and-Orange Morality.
    • Super also redeemed a few characters who, while not disliked in Z, had despised incarnations in Dragon Ball GT:
      • Pan did have a small fanbase prior, thanks to being an Action Girl in a series that only really had Android 18 prior to the introduction of Califula and Kale in the Universe Survival arc. Otherwise, she was such a minor character (only appearing in the last few episodes) that most just derided her based off of GT where she was an obnoxious Bratty Half-Pint who was never especially helpful. In Super, she became beloved for managing to learn ki-attacks and flying at the age of one, being Badass Adorable, and generally just having a load of entertaining gags written around her.
      • Android 17 was well-liked in Z, but was ultimately a minor character in the end, and his appearance as an Arc Villain in GT as part of a near-universally derided arc meant that he was generally seen with contempt. Super, however, turned him into a full-blown Memetic Badass with entertaining characterisation that had evolved significantly from what he was in Z but still kept what made him likable in the first place, made him The Smart Guy and a Combat Pragmatist in a series filled with Honor Before Reason, gave him a Heroic Sacrifice that he managed to survive, and had him go on to win the entire Tournament of Power and save the entire multiverse in the process by passing the aformentioned Secret Test of Character. One has to wonder if Akira Toriyama and Toei wanted to make up for how GT treated him.
    • Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama himself pulled this off with Broly, one of the franchise's biggest Base Breaking Characters. In the two movies that featured him, Broly was little more than a rampaging berserker whose characterization didn't go much further beyond "utterly despises Goku"; while some fans loved him for being insanely strong, others saw him as the worst parts of DBZ encapsulated: an over-muscled, insanely powerful psycho with the personality of wet cardboard. In Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Toriyama left most of his original backstory intact, but removed his blind hatred of Gokunote  and portrayed him as a victim of his father Paragus' blind obsession with getting revenge on Vegeta. As a result, new!Broly is portrayed as a gentle soul who fights Goku and Vegeta only out of a misguided sense of parental loyalty and actually ends the movie alive and well, with Goku seeking him out so they can become friends and sparring partners. While some fans still miss Broly’s evil characterisation from his first movie, the majority have accepted him becoming The Big Guy.
  • Elfen Lied: Bandou came across as a Scrappy because, despite being a badass, he was also an unlikable, obnoxious one-note character who merely enjoyed killing and was intent on getting Lucy. Even when he became a Handicapped Badass, his rather stale portrayal left people wanting more. Then Bandou began to interact more with Mayu and proved to be intelligent, as well as being a badass, by daily cleaning garbage from the beach to prevent Lucy's extensive arms to throw them as projectiles and showed a Jerk with a Heart of Gold side to himself. It also helped that Bandou proved to be one of the more realistic, gray-scaled characters in a series that was more inclined to show everyone to be jerks.
  • Fairy Tail:
    • Jellal was a fairly controversial character pre-Time Skip, due to perceived overexposure (especially with a lookalike) and controversy over whether or not amnesia pardons his past actions. Post Time Skip, between his self-punishment over what turned out to be brainwashing and pretty much canonizing Jerza, he's now a fairly popular character.
    • While Sting good side was showing a few chapters prior, Chapter 300 might have had him join Rogue in being the only well-liked members of Sabertooth after blasting a hole through Jiemma after obliterating Lector for showing he had a guild mark. The fans were pleased to see Jiemma get it coming. Rogue and Yukino have been getting a lot of love, too, after the Grand Magic Games arc, especially following the Sabertooth side-story.
    • Also, Flare was a disliked member of the disliked Raven Tail guild...until said guild disbanded and she came to Lucy and the rest of Fairy Tail in an apologetic state. When her backstory and Freudian Excuse for her prior behavior came out, the hate for her pretty much vanished in-story and out of it.
    • Though she remains a Base-Breaking Character by and large, Minerva, of all people, has surprisingly ascended to this trope to a fair degree. Before she was one of the most reviled characters of the story, but after it was revealed she is the way she is due to her Abusive Dad (who, among other acts, beat her for crying and left her naked in a forest one night, and even demands her to kill a fellow guild member!! And when she refuses, kills him himself!!) and that she actually regrets what she had become, the fanbase eased up on her a little bit. Obviously she still has a lot of things to make up for, but as far as most readers are concerned, this is still tremendous progress in her development. And then there's the aforementioned Sabertooth side-story.
    • The expansion in the anime did this for the Wolf Knights, giving them Pet the Dog and Defeat Means Friendship moments with the guild, as well as making them a bit less Ax-Crazy.
  • The Familiar of Zero:
    • For many, this happened to Louise after she gave up her nobility to save Tabitha, and went uphill from there.
    • Louise's scrappiness is often watered down or removed entirely in fanfiction. It was done first by The Hill of Swords and then by about a good number of all ZnT fanfics that came after it. In most cases, it's due to her having to deal with a character that isn't a lecherous doormat and stands up to her, so her violent tsundere behavior won't fly and she lacks the motivation to act that way.
  • Bat from Fist of the North Star went from annoying brat to capable warrior between the first and second series. He grew up pretty well.
  • Koujirou Shinomiya of Food Wars! garnered plenty of hate in his introduction for being portrayed as a Bad Boss Jerkass alumnus who was deliberately setting up students to failure during training camp, but became much more likable when his motivations and why he's so judgmental were revealed. As the series progressed, Character Development started to kick in as he looks towards achieving a new goal rather than staying stagnant in the past with his culinary skills. He's become so popular he consistently ranks in the top ten for favorite character polls, even garnering a Spin-Off series detailing on his culinary career post-graduation.
    • Also, Erina who was previously seen as Soma's Jerkass rival. To many fans she was cruel, condescending, and simply unpleasant. Her haters started to find her more sympathetic thanks to Characterization Marches On to Defrosting Ice Queen, her friendship with Hisako, the anime showing more of her Adorkable moments and her Jerkass father returning to Totsuki, who was responsible for her bitchy behavior to begin with, and showing that she and Alice truly love each other, despite their differences.
  • Miaka Yuuki, main character of Fushigi Yuugi, appears to have gotten a little less flak from some of her haters thanks to Eikoden; their reasoning was that no matter how bad they thought Miaka was, she at least had good intentions and cared a lot for other people than herself, whereas Mayo was a hundred times worse.
  • In Girls und Panzer, while Maho was not necessarily an unpopular character to begin with, some viewers had a negative first impression of her after her cold treatment of her younger sister Miho, but changed their mind after her Pet the Dog moments, and when Little Army revealed that her greatest desire and the reason why she serves as Nishizumi heiress is for Miho to be able to live her own way, which is why she adopts a facade.
    • Similarly, the Student Council received a negative first impression for essentially blackmailing Miho into doing tankery again. Then it's revealed that they have to win the tournament or else the school will shut down, and shortly after this revelation, Anzu takes a more active role in her tank, which becomes much more effective as a result.
    • Anzio wasn't as well liked as the other schools at first, since their battle happened offscreen in the anime, and while Anchovy appeared in the manga, not everyone liked her looking down on Miho for sacrificing victory to save the flag tank. In the Anzio OVA, Anchovy's quite competitive, but significantly nicer, holding a meal for her team, Miho's team and the support staff after the battle.
  • Hetalia: Axis Powers: Sealand became a more liked character after his role in the Hetalia Bloodbath 2010 strips. Additionally, Korea and Japan appear to have become less hated with the passage of time: the ugly incident regarding real-life Korean Moral Guardians is hardly ever brought up against Korea now due to it having faded away into the past, and Japan having a minor role at best in the most recent webcomic strips have put a damper on accusations of him being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad or Relationship Sue.
  • Higurashi: When They Cry's Chew Toy, the sometimes annoying crybaby Satoko, gained a fanbase after standing up to Shion while being stabbed to death. In some fan's eyes, Takano Miyo's flashback arc did a great job at making her sympathetic and cheer-worthy in the eyes of a lot of fans, even though she's the Big Bad.
  • Lady!!: George Russell was always a controversial character, because many fans view him as an enabler to his arranged fiancee, Madeleine Waverly's abuse of his daughters, while others posit that he was so busy with work he didn't notice what was happening. When George decided to go through with his marriage to Madeleine in the manga, many fans considered this the Moral Event Horizon for his character, because Madeleine had been nothing short of a total bitch to Lynn, and her two children Thomas and Mary frequently tormented and bullied her. Toei Animation must have been aware of this, because in the anime he's given more screentime where he bonds with Lynn and Sarah, and only agrees to marry Madeleine because his father promised to accept Lynn if he did - when Lynn hears of this, she's so disturbed she tries to stop this from happening, and George calls off the marriage.
  • Little Witch Academia: Diana Cavendish in the original films was initially very unpopular amongst fans, with many seeing her as a shallow Academic Alpha Bitch with very few redeeming and/or likable qualities. However, this began to change thanks to the TV series, which would tone down her meaner and bitchier qualities, while also fleshing her background out and giving her more Character Development compared to the films, culminating in her becoming close friends with Akko in episode 20 and then later becoming the one to bring her back from her Despair Event Horizon in episode 23, on top of being the one to join and help her in the battle against the Noir Rod in episode 25. Needless to say, her portrayal in the anime has redeemed her in the eyes of many fans.
  • You can only imagine how many fans Kanako Urashima of Love Hina gained when she punched even bigger Scrappy Naru Narusegawa.
  • As of the last few years the Lyrical Nanoha series has actually gone a long way to making Precia Testarossa a much more sympathetic Tragic Villain. When she was introduced in the shows first season she was hated pretty much instantly thanks to her first scene wherein she was shown horrifically whipping Fate while the latter was tied up for not collecting enough Jewel Seeds. This hatred only increased when she revealed to Fate at the end of the season that she was just a clone of Precia's daughter Alicia and that she had always hated Fate. The fact that she ended up (presumably) falling to her death instead of having a fight with any of the main protagonists also left a bad taste in a lot of viewers mouths with many fans hoping she would return just so she could get the ass kicking she deserved. However with the release of the first movie fans actually got to see a more sympathetic side to Precia seeing her hold Alicia's lifeless corpse in her hands and realizing as she fell to her death that she could have treated Fate like an actual daughter instead of a tool. This continued in Gears of Destiny wherein she reconciles with her familiar Linith at the end of their arc as the two die peacefully in each others arms. Finally we have INNOCENT, wherein Precia becomes a Doting Mother to both Alicia and Fate (as well as being funny to boot). Suffice it to say these portrayals have gone a long way to making Precia much more sympathetic in the fandom's eyes (it properly helps that audiences were introduced to the much more universally reviled HĂĽckebein about the same time, and in addition, there are worse mothers in anime introduced after this time frame, Ragyo Kiryuin is a good example of that, that Precia's old stigma of being anime's "Worst Mother Ever" has been passed down to someone else).
  • Ishigaki, of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro, started out as an annoying and mostly ignored assistant for Detective Sasazuka and was at the bottom of most popularity polls. He ultimately seemed useless and even the series said so. However, after an arc where he tries proving himself when a rival enters the case and his bizarre hobbies end up helping solve the crime while showing his amazing creativity and hilarious dark side, he shot all the way to number two on the next popularity poll, nearly beating Neuro himself!
  • Speaking of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise...
  • Shiho's rescue from the Scrappy Heap in the transition from My-HiME to My-Otome coincided with the removal of another Scrappy in Yuuichi. While this had the side effect of reducing Shiho's story importance in Otome to a comic relief character, none of the Clingy Jealous Girl traits she showcased in HiME surfaced, allowing her to have some semblance of independence and avoid a Face–Heel Turn.
  • Naruto:
    • A rather odd example: Sasuke has been considered The Scrappy for the longest time in America. But once he'd been pitted against Danzo, American fans have actually started rooting for him. Though this may be more because it's his Moment of Awesome than him just being the lesser of two evils. Others root for Danzo instead, as they think he is making pretty good points and agree with his way to lead the village.
    • This also happened to Karin when Sasuke sacrificing her to kill Danzo turned her into The Woobie. Although she survived, she made it clear she didn't care about Sasuke after what he did. Not only did this remove her from the shipping equation, but she also displayed, what some fans believe, more common sense than other characters in the series. Although that fell flat when she reunites with Team Taka after that and easily forgives Sasuke after he just awkwardly mutters a "Sorry, Karin". While some found that hilarious, a lot of readers didn't take that well and quickly called her the most pathetic female character in the manga (which is saying something).
    • Sakura went through this at the start of Part II due to Character Development, becoming stronger, and becoming a competent medical ninja. However, she quickly became The Scrappy again because she didn't really do anything significant after her awesome fight against Sasori. She all but cemented her Scrappy status after her infamous fake love confession to Naruto in Chapter 469, her inability to kill the defected-Sasuke, and her general crying and relying on Naruto again like in Part I. However, her Cool Big Sis role around both Naruto and Hinata in The Last: Naruto the Movie and genuinely trying to bring them together did manage to regain some of her former glory that she once had at the start of Part II. Unfortunately, that also didn't last for too long, and she ultimately cemented herself as a major Base-Breaking Character as of Naruto Gaiden.
  • In Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Chisame was fairly unpopular early in the series for her excessively abrasive personality. Then Mahorafest rolled around and developed her into an Only Sane Man / Meta Guy / Audience Surrogate, at which point she was much more well received.
  • Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion is often given a back-bone and made much more socially capable when he's ported over to things like the Super Robot Wars series of games or re-imaging/Adaptation Distillation of the main series such as the manga adaptation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days or the Rebuild of Evangelion film series.
  • Onpu from Ojamajo Doremi was very much disliked during the first season. She used magic to solve all of her problems and even used forbidden magic for trivial purposes such as getting her mother to take her out for dinner in order to avoid having to eat green peppers. Although she isn't entirely to blame for her misuse of magic when you consider who her teacher is. However, even without magic, she was still kind of a prick and speculated that the reason Tamaki never gets punished by her father is that he doesn't love her and says it out loud in Tamaki's face. She does get better near the end of the first season though as the last two times she used forbidden magic was to help another girl with her audition and to save the other girls from being turned into witch frogs. In season 2, she whole heartedly joined the other Ojamajos, and her popularity made a significant jump to the point where she was the only other Ojamajo Doremi character who made it very far in the fan-driven 2002 Anime Saimoe Tournament.
  • One Piece:
    • Capone Bege was nobody’s favourite Supernova when he first appeared in Sabaody Archipelago, his generic mafia Bad Boss behaviour, gonkish design and seemingly incredibly lame Devil Fruit made him easily disliked among fans. Cut to the Zou and Totto Land arcs however had fan opinion drastically shifted as Bege reveals himself to be a far more nuanced and genuinely badass character with his Devil Fruit actually proving to be quite spectacular. Ironically Bege has eventually become more consistently liked than the other Supernova (minus Law) as the others, in particular Kid who suffers from The Worf Effect — cause a Broken Base among fans.
    • Bellamy. Prior to the Time Skip, he was just an arrogant dick that none of the fans liked, not helped by the fact he was a poor fighter who Luffy beat with one punch and without his devil fruit powers. Post-Time Skip, he reappears in the Dressrosa arc, matured, respectful, and his fighting abilities significantly improved, along with some depth in his devotion to Doflamingo. Thanks to this Character Development, he's started getting a bit of a following and is certainly no longer The Scrappy anymore.
  • PokĂ©mon:
    • PokĂ©mon: The Series:
      • Bianca qualifies. During the Club Battle, she became a Scrappy for her love for Zorua. But once the episode with her father aired and she underwent Character Development, she is a Scrappy no more. It also help that she Took a Level in Badass and defeated Trip, who is a Replacement Scrappy himself. Fans were outraged when she lost to Idiot Houdini Cameron in the Unova League.
      • In a cross-media example, Lysandre and Team Flare; their game versions are widely considered the worst villainous team in the series due to their rushed plot and generic motivations. In the anime, however, they're widely considered the best villainous team; unlike the previous teams, whose schemes were B-plots at best and distractions at worst, Team Flare receives proper build-up throughout the XYZ season, their actions including using Alain, a friend of the heroes, as an Unwitting Pawn prove to be the driving force of the plot, and the resolution of their plot is anything but an Anti-Climax. The anime version of Lysandre in particular has been praised, even among XY's detractors, for finally giving the series a proper Big Bad.
      • Goh himself can be under this. Considering that he was based on PokĂ©mon GO's players, he was already not much liked since he just threw random PokĂ©balls at PokĂ©mon without fighting them and still catch them, with one of his most infamous moments being when he caught a Dewgong. Then he was given excessive screen time but little to no development and it all culminated when he caught Suicune completely out of luck (and considering how legendaries are hard to catch in the games, some players even took it personally). And so Goh became one of the most hated protagonists of the anime. Things started to look up for him when he was finally given actual Character Development and started to battle PokĂ©mon once he realizes he can't simply rely on luck all the time. There are still some people who hates Goh but they are nowhere near as much as they were at first.
      • Erika's anime incarnation was disliked by some fans for her rather jerkass-ish behaviour towards Ash over a simple insult to her perfume (although he kind of asked for it). Some were also offended by how she supposedly handles her Gym and a couple of her comments, which they found borderline sexist. As a result, Erika was quite literally scripted off the show; in fact she was the only Gym Leader which didn't appear again, not even in flashbacks (rather the two flashbacks she does appear in the Japanese version were modified so that she wouldn't appear in the international verions). The writers finally decided to give Erika another chance twenty years later by having her more like her game counterpart and she finally reappeared in Journeys, where her character was taken much more warmly.
      • A return in Journeys also did wonders to help Iris due her extreme annoyance while as Ash's companion. Not only has she done like her game counterpart and become Unova’s champion, but she’s also mellowed out.
    • PokĂ©mon Adventures:
      • Emerald is generally the least-liked Dex Holder, but his Back Story gave him Woobie status. His new appearance in the ORAS chapter has also been better received, as he now has his hair down, ditched his fake limbs, and more mellowed out.
      • White was initially bashed for not being an Action Girl, but she's getting major sympathy points as she fell out of the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel due to the shock of her Tepig, Gigi, abandoning her for N. It helps that she's also resolved to become an Action Girl after the incident, steadily becoming stronger as a character now that she's recovered from her Heroic BSoD.
  • Pretty Cure:
    • Pollun from Futari wa PreCure was a Ridiculously Cute Critter, but he was also a Bratty Half-Pint with a whiny and annoying personality. His only purpose of the show was to give the duo their Mid-Season Upgrade Finishing Move again and again. In Max Heart, he's promoted as Shiny Luminous's partner, becomes more mature and responsible than in the previous season, cries less often, and gets more sympathy with his own Annoying Younger Sibling Lullun, the new scrappy.
    • Saki and Mai of Futari wa PreCure Splash Star were met with a cold reception in their first appearance for being a rip-off of Nagisa and Honoka. Thanks to Divergent Character Evolution though, things have quickly cooled down.
    • Ako Shirabe/Cure Muse of Suite PreCure♪ started out as The Scrappy, putting off a lot of fans for being a Bratty Half-Pint who only shows up to berate Hibiki and Kanade over their incompetence. She gets better later after her cover as the masked Cure Muse is finally blown and her Hidden Depths are revealed.
    • Ayumi Sakagami/Cure Echo of the All-Stars New Stage trilogy was a massive Base-Breaking Character due to the fact that she essentially stole the first New Stage film, with many fans feeling that her time should have been devoted to the past Cures instead (though many point out it wouldn't have saved the movie any more). This is made worse by the fact that, when she does become Cure Echo, she doesn't fight at all, only confronting Fu-chan before reverting back to normal. After being Put on a Bus for New Stage 2, she comes back for New Stage 3, becoming a more proper Cure, being able to actually help the other Cures and getting fairy partners of her own with New Stage 2's Gurell and Eren.
    • Iona Hikara/Cure Fortune of HappinessCharge PreCure! was an unrelenting Jerkass towards Hime Shirayuki/Cure Princess due to Hime's Dark Secret of opening the Axia Box and releasing the Phantom Empire. When she revealed this point, she was still a Jerkass, but now it was Jerkass Has a Point. Two episodes after she revealed that to the rest of the cast, she suffers a Break the Badass moment as Precure Hunter Phantom beats her down and destroys her original powers before revealing that her real reason for revenge against him, her sister being captured, was all her fault. A few moments later, it's Hime leading a Big Damn Heroes moment to save Iona and give her the means to restore her powers. The next episode she learns that Hime was tricked into opening the box and apologizes for her harsh behavior.
    • Henri Wakamiya of Hugtto! PreCure used to be an obsessive Jerkass towards Hana and Saaya, with many fans being far from pleased at that time. However, his anti-sexist Hidden Depths, as well as being Cure Infini made him more likable than when he first appeared.
  • Sakuno Ryuzaki from the animated version of The Prince of Tennis is portrayed as a "sweet and earnest, but klutzy and stuttering child", and thus, she's often reviled, hated and called "anti-feminist" and "stupid". But several Sakuno haters have come to like her better after reading the manga, which tones down her klutziness and makes her a pint-sized, more self-assured Yamato Nadeshiko. Same goes to her Chinese drama self, where Sakuno is somewhat more outspoken and independent and a promising artist on top of that.
    • Conversely, some fans dislike manga!Sakuno's portrayal as the ideal girlfriend for Ryoma (whom they see as a possible Purity Sue), but prefer her anime counterpart as the clumsiness and insecurity are semi-realistic character flaws.
  • The Quintessential Quintuplets has Nino in what may be one of the best cases in manga history. Despite starting out as the least popular of her sisters thanks to her insufferable and harsh antagonism towards Fuutarou (to the point that she got the lowest amount of votes out of her sisters in a poll, though not overall), many fans were taken in by how well her character development was handled throughout recent chapters, and even enjoy how well she bounces off Fuutarou in scenes they're in together. It comes to a head in Chapters 59-60 where she unashamedly becomes the first of the quints to boldly confess her feelings to Fuutarou. After that her fanbase grew exponentially.
  • Sailor Moon Crystal:
    • Those who hated Chibi-Usa in the '90s anime like her a lot more in Crystal, given that it's a straightforward adaptation of the manga; helps that she later got over her crush on Mamoru for obvious, Hotaru-related reasons in Season 3.
    • Mamoru, for those who weren't fans of him in the '90s anime, as the Crystal didn’t replicate his Ron the Death Eater personality traits given to him by director (who admitted to hating him) seen in the original anime.
  • Seiya of Saint Seiya is The Scrappy for being such a Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero whose Plot Armor was as thick as an iceberg, but his Older and Wiser self as seen in Saint Seiya Omega is largely well-received by fans. The fact that he's more mature, smarter and prettier add more to this.
    • The prequel series Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas gives us the story of the Holy War in the 18th century and a new cast of Saints, who have quite better characterization overall, especially on those who used to be scrappies of the original series. To list a few:
      • Saori is extremely infamous for being a Damsel Scrappy and doesn't do much, but her Expy Sasha is a much more competent fighter, less of a bleeding heart and has never been kidnapped even once. Saori is also subjected to Die for Our Ship, but Sasha has a Like Brother and Sister relationship with all of her Saints and therefore the slash fans are more fond of her.
      • Deathmask and Aphrodite are vastly hated for being the only Gold Saints who are total assholes, but their predecessors Manigoldo and Albafica are loved, the former for being a Crazy Is Cool Sociopathic Hero and the latter for being a noble, heroic man with Sugar-and-Ice Personality. It also helps that they both have awesome death scenes.
      • Tenma, the previous Pegasus Saint is Hot-Blooded too, but unlike Seiya, he can be much more rational, calm and mature when he wants to, his Plot Armor is not as thick and he has an interesting relationship with Hades' previous vessel Alone, which fans consider very enjoyable to watch.
    • Saint Seiya: Soul of Gold also redeemed those Gold Saints that in the original arcs weren't portrayed well: Aldebaran, Deathmask, and especially Aphrodite.
  • The School Days manga portrays main character Makoto Itou as more sympathetic than his other versions (that of an idiotic jerkass who cares only about boning as many girls as possible; although, in the case of the original visual novel his characterization is dependent on player choices). In the manga, he is portrayed as a well-intentioned idiot who actually cares for the girls, other than just schtupping them.
  • Chris Thorndyke from Sonic X in the second series, after gaining some actual abilities and being given a Plot-Relevant Age-Up and Character Development, becoming significantly more mature and less clingy and self absorbed as a result. Not to mention becoming much less of a spotlight stealer.
  • Soul Eater: This, apparently, was the effect for some of Mosquito's Bishōnen Line during the Baba Yaga arc. He was dead within two chapters - interrupted transformations sequences FTW.
  • This happened to Bart in Vandread as a result of his A Day in the Limelight episode. The Moment of Awesome made him badass, and the Important Haircut (or rather, the reason for it) made him sympathetic. Though his newfound competence helped, it was still primarily the Character Development that did it in earlier episodes, culminating in a blurb before the new season where the older version boggles at the younger version and wonders if he used to be that silly.
  • During her first arc in The World God Only Knows, Kanon Nakagawa drew a lot of hate for being a Yandere Attention Whore. Her later role in the story shows her softer, much more likable side, and the fandom has mostly warmed up to her.
  • Crow Hogan, from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, may be on his way to this. His being a Signer is slowly being justified, starting with the acquisition of his Dragon, and in later episodes, he actually has been sidelined in favor of other major characters.
    • His ARC-V incarnation is widely praised by most fans for his role and lack of focus, especially in the first half of the Synchro arc.
  • Yuri!!! on Ice had several Base-Breaking Characters who got to fall in the fandom's good graces after more insight about them was revealed:
    • Victor himself fell in Base-Breaking Character territory due to many people believing he rigged the competition between the two Yuris in Katsuki's favor, due to wanting to stay in Japan, and therefore lying and deceiving Yurio. Not only that, but there were implications that he was just using Yuri for his own interests and would leave him at some point, but he turned out to be in love with Yuri all along, due to their Forgotten First Meeting, and chased Yuri out of falling for him. He also promised only to make Yurio a program, not to be his coach, something he indeed did, giving him the "On Love: Agape" routine.
    • Christophe had as many fans as people who found him creepy and/or disgusting, although Episode 10 showed him in a more positive light as Victor's Only Friend and a Shipper on Deck for Victor/Yuri. Not only that, but his otherwise controversial harassment of Yuri during the China Cup died down when it was revealed they pole-danced (almost completely) naked together in the previous year, but only Christophe remembered that as Yuri was really drunk at the time.
    • J.J. was a Base-Breaking Character for his egocentric attitude and seemingly lack of depth in his character, but Episode 11 showed that he and Yuri were similar as J.J. suffers from an awful case of Performance Anxiety, similar to Yuri, and ends up bombing his routine due to nervousness and pressure, getting such a low score that he has no chance of winning first place anymore. Nonetheless, he accepts defeat gracefully after receiving support from his fans and girlfriend, which made fans greatly sympathize with him.
    • J.J.'s girlfriend, Isabella, was hated for coming off as a one-dimensional Jerkass, but Episode 11 showed how loving and supporting she is to her boyfriend/fiancee, and her jerkiness was actually just her sharing J.J.'s status as The Gadfly.
    • Yurio, despite having a large fanbase, also has a sizable hatedom due to the way he treats Yuri. While he seemed to be rescued from his status as a Base-Breaking Character in Episode 9 due to finally becoming nicer to Yuri, Episodes 10 and 11 threatened to throw him back in the heap after he does nothing but insult Yuri and Victor after their engagement. Episode 12 finally redeemed him once and for all once it's revealed what exactly his deal with Yuri is, which may still not justify his actions or behavior, but still helps him come across as a more understandable and sympathetic character. While he's still pretty divisive among fans, the discourse around his character isn't as heated as it used to be.
  • The little duck billed bratty demon, Kanchome, of Zatch Bell!, was generally useful for little more than a random flawed disguise on the spot to help his True Companions, and his attitude had The Scrappy written all over it. It didn't help that his powers relied on being intelligent, as shown by when Kiyo made a very effective strategy for him, which neither he nor his partner are. The anime gave him a Moment of Awesome by having him nearly defeat a stronger foe with a new spell that made replications of himself, but he would go on to be much more badass in the manga - he saved the Earth from destruction by Clear Note (the Big Bad) by transforming into the Earth and hypnotizing Clear to think it was the real thing.
  • Sayaka of Puella Magi Madoka Magica was never hated, but her breakdown in the anime combined with her (relative) lack of skill and power compared to the rest of the main characters caused a good part of the fanbase to see her as weak character both physically and emotionally and something of a Memetic Loser. Her appearance in Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion, where she is an envoy of Madoka who summons and controls her own Witch form Oktavia von Seckendorff much like a Persona (complete with stabbing herself in the chest to do so instead of shooting herself in the head), and later tries to stand up to a nigh-godlike Demon Homura and calls her out on her crap despite being completely outmatched, has helped her become more respected by the fanbase as a badass on par with the other characters.

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