Misused: Zero Percent Approval Rating

Since nobody else is posting this I thought I would do it. 0% Approval Rating is meant to be for rulers who are hated by everyone, but it is pretty much the norm for it to be used for any universally hated characters even if they are not rulers.

In the Zero Percent Approval Rating Wick Check, 50 wicks were looked at the "quick results" are as followed:

• Applies to a ruler (14)
• Doesn't apply to a ruler (24)
• Unclear/ZCE/Other (13)

The two solutions that immediately come to mind for this is either changing the description so that this doesn't only apply to the unpopular ruler (as it is being used). Or change the name so it makes it more clear this only applies to rulers perhaps Nobody Likes The Evil Overlord.

Opening.

Both sound good, but I like the former more. If there's already a trope for the former, then the latter.

Edited by callmeamuffin on Mar 20th 2021 at 9:00:31 PM

I don't mind expanding this to cover that as well

I'm fine with expanding. If the "absolutely nobody likes the ruler" is a tropable concept, then I won't mind the new trope being made to cover this definition.

It's Hundred Percent Adoration Rating, not Approval Rating.

Edited by I--Vanya--I on Mar 20th 2021 at 5:27:06 PM

Expand it.

Pretty sure that if we expand this, we'll also expand Hundred Percent Adoration Rating. If that's what this comes to, I guess I won't mind that.

Edited by Piterpicher on Mar 20th 2021 at 3:25:37 PM

Pitching a vote to expand.

Expand.

Wouldn't the first option just be an extreme version of Hate Sink? Or an In-Universe version of The Scrappy?

I can see why a ruler specific version would be more noteworthy (i.e. the leader is hated by all his subjects but no one is willing or able to depose him) than a more general "nobody likes that jackass", so I'd support the second option.

“Everyone hates this guy” seems very far removed from “everyone hates this ruler”, because of the specific societal structures that make getting rid of a ruler hard. Maybe it can be expanded to cover non-head of state authority figures, but not to whoever the characters dislike.

I don't really see the problem with that Hate Sink is meant to cover characters intended to be hated by the creators and In-Universe version of The Scrappy is also a thing.

Normally you would be right but this trope is already widely being used for any super disliked character, so it isn't really that far removed from how it is being used as someone said if "everyone hates the ruler". is a tropeable idea it could be made separate.

Expand to cover any authority figure, but not to cover absolutely any character, per what Synchronicity said.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Mar 20th 2021 at 11:53:18 AM

In this case just accepting the Trope Decay doesn't seem like the right call, since the decay is already so far removed from the original meaning. We could always rename 0% Approval Rating to something clearer like Everyone Hates The Ruler and do something else with the "everyone hates this guy" examples if people think that is tropeworthy.

Yeah, my vote is either for:

• Expansion of the trope
• A trope transplant and split, making this the broader one and moving the current definition elsewhere

We use this for rulers and non-rulers. For example, in the Total Drama series (even the later seasons), Chris McLean counts in this trope. Almost every contestant that put up with Chris' BS want to do nothing with him or his show anymore. Instead, they would rather live normal lives, like before “Total Drama” even existed.

Its opposite Hundred Percent Adoration Rating had Don (from The Ridonculous Race) because of the fact that none of the contestants hated Don. The only contestants that hated Don were Gerry, Laurie, and the Ice Dancers. While it does not work that way, Don had less enemies than Chris McLean. Specifically, Don only had four haters, while every single contestant hated Chris.

Edited by GravityFalls on Mar 20th 2021 at 1:04:37 AM

Technically, most of the Total Drama contestants have never met Don, let alone say they prefer him over Chris. Even the one's who did meet him never brought up Chris in relation to him. I also wouldn't count Don as Hundred Percent Adoration Rating as most of the contestants didn't seem to have any strong opinions of him either way. "Not hated" isn't synonymous with "adored". Plus, as you said, several contestants, including those who weren't antagonists, disliked him, so it's not 100%.

Edited by costanton11 on Mar 20th 2021 at 1:06:15 PM

Well, it looks Like Chris McLean has a great deal of authority within the show... That makes him a ruler, at least in terms of the power he has over the contestants.

Right. Chris is literally the boss of the show.

My issue is if we change to trope to that it won't really fix anything since what is an "authority figure" can be very hard to determine and would likely just continue to be used for anyone generally hated.

How is it hard to determine? An "Authority Figure" is anyone who other people have to take orders from and must answer to. The boss at a local Burger Fool is just as much an Authority Figure as the king of The Empire is.

I guess that is true, still, I am not really thinking this will solve anything and I do think a character that is hated by everyone still does have some value as a trope.

"A character is universally hated in-universe" can be caused by several things.

• If they're hated because they're unpleasant, it's covered by Jerkass or Hate Sink.
• If they're hated because they're different and the other people are being jerks against them, then it's All of the Other Reindeer.

I'd like to see other variations of the definition that's not covered by the above before agreeing to expand this trope to cover "just about anybody".

Hate Sink and Jerkass are not required to be hated by absolutely everyone. As an example of a Hate Sink and a Jerkass who is adored by many, I can list Mothiva from Bug Fables. In front of the crowd, she appears to be a kind celebrity, but off-stage, she is a rude, obnoxious jerk who the main characters can't stand. Despite this, she is still loved by the masses, who are not aware of her true personality. She is a Hate Sink and a Jerkass, but she won't fall under 0% Approval Rating even if it would cover anyone who is hated by everyone.

Well, I do get that hateful antagonists such as the Alpha Bitch and Jerk Jock tend to be popular (which is why they can get away with being such a jerk), but Villain with Good Publicity is a thing too, especially when combined with other factors like Screw the Rules, I Have Money! or Screw the Rules, I'm Beautiful!.

Also, if the character can pretend to be a good person (i.e. Bitch in Sheep's Clothing), then it'd make sense for them to be well-liked by those who only knows of their Nice Guy (or girl) facade. A character who is consistently unpleasant to everyone (and has no other mitigation factors that motivate others to turn a blind eye to their flaws) is not usually as well-liked, and I feel like the above example is more of an exception than the rule.

And a universally disliked authority figure is noteworthy because you'd think their downtrodden underlings could just band together and oust them if they're that hated, but for some reason, they don't do that.

For other non-authority figures... I'm not seeing any noteworthy distinction between "the Jerkass character is hated by a lot of people" vs. "the Jerkass character is hated by ALL people".

Edited by Adept on Mar 20th 2021 at 10:12:25 PM