Rescued From The Scrappy Heap discussion

But doesn't TV Tropes try to avoid tropes named after characters these days? And if the Character itself is no longer The Scrappy shouldn't we rename that trope (and by proxy this one?

Not really how it works.

Can we return to the main subject? This is kind of a derail.

sorry

Bump because I recently became interested in this topic again, and we still haven't figured out an actual answer here.

I wonder if the issue is that these Scrappy tropes were all made when the scope for The Scrappy wasn't strongly enforced and was used for pretty much any character with a sizable hatedom, so these subtropes are about sizable hatedom, but not necessarily unanimous hatedom.

The Scrappy is about the character being hated for different reasons than intended. Thus Base-Breaking Character (mix of love and unintended hate) and Replacement Scrappy (unintended hate for replacing characters), and tier Scrappies (unintended hate for gameplay reasons) are sub-tropes ("trope" of unintended hate plus extra specifics) despite having less strict criteria than Scrappy. (Overshadowed by Controversy was deemed not to apply if the more precise Audience-Alienating Ending is the better fit, so there's that precedence.)

Thus I would be fine with Rescued applying to BBC, Replacement, and tier Scrappy.

Hate Sink I'd only apply if it was seen/explained as a detriment to the work (i.e. fitting Scrappy tropes), but maybe that's a better fit for Salvaged Story. The line between those might be a separate discussion.

As for overlapping Rescued with Scrappy sub tropes, I'd say only keep both if they were contentious long enough (other quantifications of hate are too contentious to work emblem for YMMV) it remains such a significant part of their fandom history. (I ballpark 5 years since rescuing based on other waiting period. Any thoughts/other waits.)

Since when is Base-Breaking Character a scrappy subtrope? That makes no sense at all since Scrappies are required to be hated by the majority. The tropes are completely incompatible

I've mentioned before that I think Rescued from the Scrappy Heap should only apply to characters who were The Scrappy, since a character who was hated by a vast majority suddenly experiencing a major turnaround in popularity feels like a more notable instance of audience reaction.

A Base-Breaking Character also can't be in the Scrappy Heap in the first place because a Base-Breaking Character is not hated by a vast majority of the fanbase.

If Rescued from the Scrappy Heap wants to include non-Scrappy characters, then the name needs to be changed because otherwise it's just a misleading title, and misleading titles are what often lead to trope/audience reaction rot.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Apr 18th 2024 at 1:45:17 AM

"Rescued From Hatedom" a better name then?

BBC may not be a sub trope, but both involve unintentionally hated characters, one also has a equal amount of fans. That's why I think Rescued can apply to both as it is about fixing unintended hate.

I don't think BBC and Scrappy are that incomparable. Both require a sizable hatedom, because too much neutrality on a character can cancel either of them out. It's just that in BBC obviously there's a sizable fandom of equal value to balance out the intensity.

Oh lmao, sorry for misreading.

Edited by mightymewtron on Apr 19th 2024 at 12:46:30 PM

I didn't say they're incomparable, I said they're incompatible. As in, they aren't allowed to overlap. My entire argument was in regards to the claim that one is a subtrope of the other.

Ensemble Dark Horse Cleanup stated that an ED becoming less popular later doesn't disqualify their ED entry. So there's that precedent to consider.

There are reasons it might not directly apply here:

• Scrappy has more potential complaining to filter.
• ED has just 1 month wait vs Scrappy's 6. So it doesn't need as long to stick enough to keep both.

Thoughts? With this in mind any ideas for how long before being Rescued/other possible objective criteria qualifies a character for both?