The Scrappy Cleanup

Fairy Tail - The Scrappy

• Future Rogue initially gained interest for killing Future Lucy and then easily defeating the main protagonist. However, his characterization proved largely lacking as his arc progressed, and the revelation that his Start of Darkness was the death of Frosch (who, as Natsu points out, his actions are endangering) earned him widespread scorn.

I’d say cut, because the information bellow means all hatedom is around his character not being explored enough

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character - Future Rogue is another major example as someone who started off as a fan-favorite moments after his introduction for his curb-stomping over Natsu, but as his appearances went on, many readers came to believe that the guy had hardly any motivation or goal for why he ended up the way he did. His last wordsforeshadow that big events surrounding his present self are going to take place on the next future, but nothing really comes out of it.

That's a misuse of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character as complaining about their handling, not lack of screentime. So Scrappy might be a better fit.

From The Prince of Egypt 's YMMV page;

"Many were disappointed by the film's portrayal of Aaron, whose depiction as a cowardly and generally useless tagalong is a far cry from the original biblical tale where he acted as Moses' spokesperson before the Pharaoh (as Moses spoke with a stutter)."

I thought different adaptations of characters didn't count for Scrappies? Also, even if that wasn't the case, I don't recall anyone actually hating Aaron. Not to mention this reads more like of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character if anything. Permission to cut?

"Still smarter than a bus driver."

Looking online I can’t find any notable hatred towards him. I say cut it.

We need to clean up YMMV.Luann it feels like every character is listed as this and a Base-Breaking Character at the same time.

Thoughts?

In honor of Akira Toriyama

Out of all these examples, I think only Bets counts. The rest don't give enough explanation or just feel like complaining. Plus, having your entire supporting cast be Base-Breaking is not how that trope works.

Discombobulate.

I should probably take that to the BBC thread.

I shall cut ‘em all, except Bets.

In honor of Akira Toriyama

Bets seems to be the only one who would actually qualify in this write-up from what I read. the rest don't seem like The Scrappy materials to me honestly even given the circumstance.

YMMV.Alpha And Omega has dubious examples in the form of Marcel and Paddy:

• The Scrappy: Despite being major characters who give directions to the main characters so they could return home, Marcel and Paddy are not really that popular with the fandom. Go ahead and check out any fanbase on DeviantArt or YouTube, you'll be surprised that those two have barely to any mention with the rest of the characters, a majority being wolf fans.

This entry reads more like "people forget these characters exist" than "people hate these characters". Thoughts?

He/they | Mostly here on my free days

Yeah, that definitely feels more like audience apathy rather than audience hatred. I'd cut them if there isn't actually any indication that the characters are hated.

cut it

In honor of Akira Toriyama

Cut that example. Not a Scrappy write-up more or less.

YMMV.The King Of Fighters XIV

• The Scrappy: Gang-il simply by virtue of doing everything Kim already does, only worse. The fact that he bears a passing resemblance to DarksydePhil really doesn't help his case, either. It also doesn't help that his other teammate, Luong, was much, much more well-received in comparison.

Sounds more like a Low-Tier Letdown than this trope. Also, this example really expects everyone to know who DSP is? Even in the fighting game community most people don’t know who he is. It’s like an inverse Fan Myopia going on here.

Edited by PlasmaPower on Apr 4th 2024 at 10:21:24 AM

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!

I’m still skeptical about Future Rouge’s status Scrappy

Can someone explain properly should we cut him, because in my opinion he’s more of a wasted character rather than poorly written

Edited by NicMasterTrope on Apr 5th 2024 at 1:35:32 PM

Dunno. I’m not entirely familiar with Fairy Tail or the character but if people are more apathetic with said character then you might as well delete it.

Am I okay with cutting this example?

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!

Cut Gang-il and Rogue

In honor of Akira Toriyama

Is Sal Manella from Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney too much of a Hate Sink to count as a scrappy?

• Sal Manella is widely despised for his gross sprites, creepy behavior towards Maya, annoying Leet Lingo gimmick, and how despite helping Dee Vasquez cover up her manslaughter of Jack Hammer and frame Will Powers, he apparently faces no charges.

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Given how his English name alludes to how gross he is, and how his Japanese name basically means "annoying otaku", I feel like he's meant to be intentionally annoying. His whole thing is that he's every negative stereotype of nerds wrapped into one character. Like I'm not saying people don't hate him and that he doesn't suck ass, but I feel like you're supposed to dislike him.

Sandbox help wanted.

I find the Scrappy status of these comic book characters to be pretty doubtful:

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• Superman: General Zod. The main reason for this is that his appearance in Superman II means that he keeps showing up far more often than his scant decent stories would warrant, and without Terrence Stamp's hammy performance backing him up, he rarely attains any characterization beyond "is evil space general."

General Zod in the comics is that kind of unremarkable yet classic villain that has few fans, but his very unremarkable-ness (is that even a word?) means he is more often ignored than hated. As a rule, "classic" heroes and villains in the DCU are rarely scrappies, even though their replacements, legacy characters, or particular re-toolings of them can be scrappies. To say that ALL comic book versions of Zod are scrappies is a vast exaggeration.

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• Terry Long, for being considerably older than Donna Troy, coming off as creepy, and his tendency to make blatant passes at her friends. (Bonus points: he looks an awful lot like Marv Wolfman.) He actually became even more of a Jerkass in the '90s, before he was killed off in John Byrne's run of Wonder Woman.

As described above, Terry is mostly known these days for being outrageously dick-ish in some memorable occasions, for being a suspicious Author Avatar and for being comic book's poster boy for What Does She See in Him?. Some people find him cringe-y, some people find him to be so creepy that he is hillarious in a So Bad, It's Good way, but I'm not sure he is passionately hated by many.

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• Fantastic Four: Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Susan Richards. Not only is he a frequent kidnapping victim, which in itself would probably make him a Scrappy, but he's also an all-powerful Reality Warper who is undoubtedly one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. But even that has potential, as seen with characters like Superman, exploring what to do with that power and how much it weighs on people... Etc, etc, etc

Really? Most fans just don't care about Franklin one way or another. He's too young and still too devoid of strong personality traits to be a scrappy. Young kid scrappies tend to be either precociously cute or obnoxious jerks like Titan's Danny Chase, or tend to be Creator's Pet or Spotlight-Stealing Squad. Franklin is... just a kid. Most times. For most fans, he is just there.

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• The Walking Dead, there's Lori. Abandoning her husband without even a note, cheating with his best friend less than a month later, confronting a very angry farmer, confronting potentially violent inmates, being completely worthless in battle, having no other abilities whatsoever, and never bringing anything to the table other than bitch and whine, she's even more of a Scrappy when compared to the far cooler and tougher Michonne or Andrea.

This a much stronger case than the others I've listed above, but still... Lori in the TV show is a bona fide Scrappy, easily one of the most universally hated characters. Lori in the comics is much more of a Base-Breaking Character, IMO. The comics gave her many more warm-hearted moments with Rick and Carl. And Shane dies much earlier in the comics, like, in the very first arc, so Lori never gets to be the manipulative bitch that plays her husband and her lover against each other.

Cut General Zod and Franklin Richards.

Lori would count if her Scrappiness in the show has overshadowed her merely divisive comic counterpart in fandoms eyes (and the entry explains how that's the case). Otherwise that's They Changed It, Now It Sucks! not Scrappy which requires they be consistently hated as opposed to just versions of them.

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Apr 6th 2024 at 9:45:58 AM

On the topic of Zod, it's easy to note that there's more to his characterization than just "space warlord" and this has been explored a few times, such as in Man of Steel and the Kneel Before Zod storyline. Not to mention he's a consistent fan favourite in Supes' rogues gallery, only behind Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Brainiac.

So yeah, cut Zod.

"O, Death... become my Blade, Once More"

I'm cutting Zod and Franklin, but I'll wait to hear from more people before I tinker with Lori Grimes's entry.

Donna's husband is infamously disliked by the comic fanbase due to him being a self-insert and being an old man marrying a teenager, so yeah. I say Terry does count as a scrappy, as there are no unironic fans of him.

To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.

^ True.

Terry Long is totally creepy, and how awkward the whole concept is has reached hillarious memetic fame among some fans. He's been in lists of the Top 10 creepiest characters in the DC Universe.

I was just wondering if disgust-fueled "What were the creators thinking?" hillarity is comparable to the hatred and annoyance that is the reaction to most Scrappies.

But yeah, considering that Scrappies can elicit all manners of negative reactions, from hate to disgust, then Terry Long counts.

Values Dissonance is at play. An old man having the hots for teenagers wasn't that out there (hell, infamously Professor X was attracted to Jean Grey), and I'm sure Magneto and Rogue relationship was following the trend. It was normal for the writers of that generation.

Needless to say, Terry just aged like shit for the next generations, and being an Author Avatar, made it worse.

To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.

The Scrappy page for the Sonic series lists a few characters who the entry admits were upgraded to Base Breaking in later installments. Should they be removed? And what about the Deadly Six given they're still disliked in the games

• Sonic Lost World: The Deadly Six are generally disliked as a group for being one-note villains, unfitting in terms of character designs, derivative of the Koopalings, and little explanation for their existence. While Zazz and Zor do have some fans for being the more amusing ones of the bunch, the following... really don't:
  • Zavok is loathed as an extremely blatant Bowser rip-off in a franchise that became famous for defining itself against Mario, not helped by how bland his character is. His overexposure in the games and media following his debut only added fuel to the fire.
  • Zeena, for being an obnoxious and sexist Alpha Bitch stereotype. Also doesn't help that she's one of the most obnoxious of the team to fight.
  • Zomom, who has a particularly ugly design and little personality past being a food-obsessed Fat Bastard.
  • Master Zik, who has an unappealing and overly-stereotypical Old Master design.
  • The Deadly Six's reputation improved in the IDW comics due to more threatening and more cruel characterizations. Zavok benefited the most thanks to a more intimidating Giant form and the Bad Guys miniseries' focus on his cunning side. While they are still seen as Base Breaking Characters due to usurping Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline as the Arc Villains of the Metal Virus arc, they aren't as widely loathed as they are in the games.

• Sonic X: Chris Thorndyke for taking the spotlight away from the canon cast, even getting more screentime than Sonic himself. Chris compensates by being an unpopular character in his own right, with no meaningful development across two seasons^note only by the end of season 2, he starts to learn to be less dependant of Sonic, lack of relatability despite being an Audience Surrogate, unnerving dependence on Sonic^note To the point where he prevented Sonic's departure and likely stranded him on Earth, and he went to Sonic's world on his own as an adult just for an opportunity to see Sonic and friends again., and bare contributions to the plot (aside from getting kidnapped or taking other characters' roles^note The most infamous case being with Amy’s role in inspiring Shadow’s Heel–Face Turn in the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation).
  • However, by the events of third season, a good chunk of fans changed their opinion of him, now that he became more mature and had less screentime, eventually becoming a Base-Breaking Character instead, as some fans still haven’t changed their mind.

• Rachel from Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) was supposed to be disliked as an obnoxious sister-in-law who butted heads with Tom for no apparent reason. But she unintentionally went well beyond that as she contributed nothing to the plot, and was considered by most viewers to embody the worst aspects of the Sassy Black Woman trope. Some even went as far as to suggest that she was a racist, due to Rachel and her sister Maddie being black and Tom white. Her reception greatly improved in the sequel, as she took a level in kindness and badass by helping Maddie rescue Sonic, Tails and Tom from the anti-villainous G.U.N. in a tense and hilarious sequence, but is still rather divisive due to her — irrelevant outside of a few key moments — wedding subplot lasting way longer than it needed to.

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Edited by Mariofan99 on Apr 9th 2024 at 10:00:26 AM