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* KickTheSonOfABitch: Usually done with The Last Angry Geek. Like when Geek put massively pricey, not needed shoulder pads on his bill, he said he was going to stop the Geek's show.
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[[center: [- [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCritic Main Character Index]] | '''The Critic''' ([[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesAToE A-E]], [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesFToM F-M]], [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticDougsCharacters Doug's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticMalcolmsCharacters Malcolm's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTamarasCharacters Tamara's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticOtherCharacters Other Characters]]]]-]
to:
[[center: [- [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCritic Main Character Index]] | '''The Critic''' ([[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesAToE A-E]], [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesFToM F-M]], [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticDougsCharacters Doug's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticMalcolmsCharacters Malcolm's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTamarasCharacters Tamara's Characters]] | [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticOtherCharacters Other Characters]]]]-]
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[[index]]
* [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesAToE Tropes A To E]]
* [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesFToM Tropes F To M]]
* [[Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesNToZ Tropes N To Z]]
[[/index]]
to:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:A]]
*
-->'''Critic:''' Yeah, I remember the last time I said "this is the nineties, old man" to my Dad... (''shakily and looking traumatized'') i-it really was the last time.
* AesopAmnesia:
** In a post-PlotHole review of ''Film/{{Twilight}}'', he says it made him realize he can't keep obsessing over the past, needs to move on, and wants to go back to being the universe instead of having a physical body. Come "The Review Must Go On" and all that's forgotten about.
** Mara Wilson is gonna be angry that you had to learn about child stars ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CItRyDt6whs again]]'', Critic... Even then you didn't learn, agreeing with Zordon in ''Turbo'' that all child stars know how to do is go crazy, being mean to Anna Sophia Robb by focusing on her looks in a negative way instead of her acting, and adding a {{rimshot}} to mocking fun of Dakota Fanning.
*** Lampshaded when he lazily says "insert Mara Wilson revenge joke here" in "Top 12 Santa Clauses" but then a clip of her laughing still scares him.
** In ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', he actually talked to people and took the chance to make friends/strengthen the relationships he already had, not to mention helping everyone in the PlotHole. The reboot made him more isolated, the Santa Christ call implying out of guilt.
** His very potent determination to never hurt people again (and succeeding at being a BigGood) was replaced with maiming cats, more personal insults, hitting kids, suggesting torture that not even the devil thought of, and beating three people to near-death with a baseball bat. He acknowledged this in "I'll Be Home For Christmas", where he apologized to Chester for the ill-treatment and wants to be good even if he fucks up.
** Lampshaded anvil-hard in the video he sent to the Nerd roasting. "Even though we ended at a good place in To
** He says "a director can make a bad film" in his ''AI'' soapbox speech, but Burton very nearly manages to teach him that lesson in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', fucking up in Critic's eyes before it can sink in. It's so CallBack-like this may be intentionally using the trope.
** In ''Christmas With The Kranks'' after a sad speech about changing, self-loathing and how at least if you're aware of the bad things you've done you shouldn't hate yourself so much, he goes right back to arguing with Tamara and Malcolm and treating them badly.
*
* AintTooProudToBeg:
%% ** He'll even whore himself out as long [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry you]] don't play another song.
** Variant in ''Future's End'' when Snob tells him in basic terms to do his SexSlave job again. He breaks down crying immediately, but kneels down and unzips anyway.
* TheAlcoholic: Even though even [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] would probably laugh at him for not being able to handle his drink, booze pops up a lot in his show. In ''It'', Critic gets wasted from his Stephen King DrinkingGame and can barely speak in coherent sentences midway through the review, Dr Smith [[spoiler:his father]] gets concerned that he could end up dying.
* AlcoholicParent: His mother calls him up when she's been drinking and insults him horribly.
* AllegedlyDateless: Reboot only. He's so sex-starved that he uses Rogue figurines as wank tools, but he has people feeling him up all over the place.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Gender-inverted. He has a MasochismTango-like relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, he sees no problem with the attractive inmates from ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' snuffing him out, got attracted to Tamara after she tortured him and gave her a job to make his "I just watch him because he's pretty hurting" demographic happy, and his prom date ended up raping him. Hyper Fangirl actually had RightForTheWrongReasons, thinking he would love her because she pretended to like the things he did, but Doug saying in commentary that Critic had been close to falling for her because she kidnapped and hurt him.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: What gets him into so much trouble with Rachel, Malcolm, Tamara and the Hyper Fangirl. He wants them around to be abused and stroke his ego, but when they either snap from mistreatment or (in the case of the last) feel like they have a chance with him, he gets pissed off.
* AlterEgoActing: The Critic's name is Doug, but he's still a fictional character whom Doug Walker plays. Critic and Doug have talked at least three times, and post The Review Must Go On they're slightly bitter at each other. In a 2017 youtube trailer, Critic called Doug the character.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Maven insults him by calling him a "reanimated dead guy", he randomly changes into a South Park version of himself out of anger at the end of "Top 11 South Park Episodes", the "Why Do We Love Zombies" title card averts BeautyIsNeverTarnished by having his face decay, and [[spoiler: he manages to be fine with being burned alive]] in "Ghost Dad". Shyam-amon calls him "mortal" in "Devil", but he's not exactly the best judge.
* AmazonChaser: Put an ActionGirl in a movie (but don't chickify her) and he'll fall in love. Tamara in ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'' uses this to her advantage, as while she's cutesy and silly with Snob and Spoony, she tortures Critic and it gets her a job with him.
* AmIJustAToyToYou:
** His screaming at the Chick about does she even care about him goes into this trope when WordOfGod confirmed they had sex in the ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' review.
** An InterplayOfSexAndViolence version at the end of ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'', as he runs after Tamara to yell at her... not for torturing him, but for leaving afterwards and not giving him a chance to give her a job because views go up when he's in pain.
* AnimalsHateHim: In the mindfucks list, a toy puppy turns into a giant gorilla to kill him. Close to being justified, as whenever there's a movie with an animal in the lead, he usually wants them dead.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Played with. He's annoying, but The Other Guy keeps him in place through disproportionate means, like punching him back into a review.
* TheAntiGrinch: Ever since his first Christmas special, the Nostalgia Critic has displayed a love of Christmas so much that his love for it has become a RunningGag. His over the top admiration for it becomes more and more extreme, including [[ImpliedDeathThreat Implied Death Threats]] in a rocking PowerBallad (that he tried suppressing with a Chill-Pill patch), turning into a giant-head and nuking the Earth one episode and turning Malcom into a zombie, and flying to Planet [=Sha7u#o?WZ=], breaking the light barrier, warping the speed of time, shattering every conceivable ozone layer and then destroying the planet ''with sheer enthusiasm'' just so he could show that he loved Christmas more than See-Sea Cuckooblocks just as she was being awarded the title of "The Biggest Lover of Christmas in all the Galaxies."
* AntiHero: He's arguably one of the few characters to be anywhere on the scale, depending on the episode in question:
** He's a ClassicalAntiHero most of the time.
** He eventually settles on KnightInSourArmor in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' since he has genuinely altruistic motives and no real KickTheDog moments other than indulging Chick's hate of Lupa by giving her Lupa's number so they could prank call her. Earlier on...
** He arguably leaned towards a PragmaticHero since ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', as he genuinely cares for his team mates and shows both courage and surprisingly strong leadership in the final battle.
** He ventures into UnscrupulousHero & NominalHero when he's angry, and has stayed here since coming back from the PlotHole as he's the devil's favorite. Lampshaded in ''Spawn'' when Kermit-Devil wants him to be the leader of the demon army ''because'' he's so awful.
* TheAntiNihilist: The world sucks and he's all too aware that he's useless, but he still mostly wants to do good.
-->'''Critic''': It's like trying to save a sinking ship with a bandaid. Anything I try to do would be completely pointless. '''Save me'''.
* AntiRoleModel: Doug tries to make it very clear that you ''shouldn't'' think of Critic as a badass or someone to look up to, with his HairTriggerTemper and disproportionate aggression to things that don't really matter. It's common for others on his show like Rob, Rachel, Malcolm, Tamara, or any of his more sane co-producers to roll their eyes while he goes batshit over a movie.
%% * ApologeticAttacker: "TO WAR! ...whenever you have the time."
* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: Post-reboot, one of the most meta examples. Critic is still broken and pathetic, but he treats his underlings like his dolls, characters are created to make things go his way, he can insult Doug whenever he wants, and he doesn't always fail when he rebels against actually being a character.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' he merges with the PlotHole threatening the Awesomeverse and sacrifices his physical body but essentially becomes the universe itself.]]
** [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted in "The Review Must Go On", where it is revealed that the Critic was actually stuck in [[WebVideo/DemoReel a purgatory]] that the Plot Hole created from his subconciousness because his own mind was unable to comprehend that he would commit such an act of heroism. This ultimately leads to the Critic escaping back to his own world.]]
* TheAtoner: This trait is especially apparent in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as even the trailers had his lines about finally having a chance to make up for his mistakes.
-->'''Optimus Prime''': I died for your sins.\\
'''Critic''': And clearly I will only die for mine.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: As part of HypocriticalHumor, he gets distracted by a housefly in ''Ferngully II''. In other reviews, he'll get caught up in a sketch if the movie is too dull. Doug has stated in multiple vlogs that he's almost certain he has ADD, so that would explain why Critic can't seem to keep much focus on anything. There's a moment in ''The Uncanny Valley'' review where he goes all out on this trait.
-->'''Critic''': [[SarcasmMode Well that's something reviewers don't do]], lose focus. Like the time I saw Vin Diesel at the premiere of ''Fred 3'', neither of us would admit why we were actually there but- you might have noticed an edit there, because I got distracted with nothing to do with what we're talking about, my apologies, now let us return to our review ''Wicker Man II: I Was Really Ghost Rider''- you might have noticed another edit there but that happens when you have years of sexual repression building up and then all you can think about is Jessica Lange dressed up as a snowman with her big- you might have noticed another edit... and I'm just gonna stop there.
** In the ''Star Wars'' edition of Hotshot, he admits he's feeling bouncier than normal and is having a new idea every few minutes.
** In the "trying to look cool in leather" ending of ''Film/TheMatrix'', he gets distracted by Jim walking by, and Malcolm has to grab his chin in order to get him back to 'reality'.
** In his review of ''Film/CatsandDogs'', he quickly loses focus when he has a piece of string in front of him or is told to fetch a ball.
** In the review of his home movies, he unknowingly thinks his child self really needs ritalin.
** When the grandfather in ''Spy Kids 3D'' gets distracted by a butterfly, he gets annoyed because of the "reinforcing ADD stereotypes".
* AttentionWhore: The Nostalgia Chick gently bitches about his hogging all the limelight when he shows up dressed as Creator/TimCurry in her review of ''Film/TheWorstWitch''. The beginning of ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' has him lapping up the praise of a huge crowd and choir music (because he's doing another commercials) like he's some kind of messiah. In "Old vs New: Spider-Man", this is the reason why he doesn't just unfriend Hyper and be free of her guilt-tripping. By the time he's realized his own safety is more important, it's way too late.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: This was the lyric playing when he tried getting up the courage to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback".
-->Oh, but he watches so sadly. How can he tell her he loves her? Yes, he would give his heart gladly...
** In a more toxic fashion, while he treats Malcolm and Tamara horribly, a lot of episodes (especially Matrix Month) show that he needs them and trusts them to take care of him.
** Chester can be the punching bag, but Critic is the only one to look after him ''at all'', and has told him straight up that he appreciates the bum's kindness.
* AxCrazy: Can be set off into crazed violence by sufficiently poor movies, and is pretty manic-depressive otherwise. Gets worse after he has to come down from being happy in the PlotHole, as [[spoiler:it's implied that he decides to check himself into an asylum after a particularly homicidal breakdown in the ''Master of Disguise'' review.]] Later on, his threat to Sci-Fi Guy to do a crossover with him (and do all the work) or else next time they're at a con he'll slit guy's wrists and leave him in a bathtub, is... ''special'' in creepy. ''Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'' is entirely based on what will happen if you control him too much and then suddenly take the RestrainingBolt away.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:B]]
* BabysitterFromHell: Despite having babysit kids fine in the past, he treats Evilina horribly in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. Which should be fitting considering where she lives, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it very much.
** Expands beyond Evilina in ''Jurassic Park III'', as he says that whenever he feeds babies, he leaves the food five feet away from them because they're lazy and should work for their own meal.
* BackFromTheDead: Commits a HeroicSuicide in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but convinces Doug to bring him back in "The Review Must Go On". He regrets this by ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', but Evilina tells him he has to stay alive because killing him off got complaints the first time.
* BadassUnintentional: When he's ''trying'' to do anything, he's a FailureHero. By accident however (or when he's pissed enough), he's exploded cities, come back to life after getting killed and can tell the death star to blow up a DVD.
%% * BadLiar: [[SarcasmMode Sure]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs&feature=related they're treating you well, Critic]].
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: In the Transformers-Bratz arc, after he wakes up from getting chloroformed, he hides angrily in the bushes, shoots the Chick with a tranquilizer dart and sinisterly says it's his turn. It turns out that he just wanted to pretend he had power while trying to give her a self-esteem boost.
* BaitTheDog:
** For the first fifteen minutes of Lupa's "A Talking Cat" review, he seems nicer and more toned down from his comeback self; lets her talk the most, actually apologizes when a joke makes her sad, and submissively backs down from annoying her when she threatens to punch him. [[spoiler: but then in the halfway point he shoots her, and while she shoots him back later, he does it again before the episode ends]]
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he's bored and lets Erod runs the show for the first half of the review. But when Erod goes to bust the dvd early, he shoots the hammer out of his hand, reminds him who everyone comes to see and displays electric powers. He's also completely fine with killing Bay even when he thinks Bay is human and torturing Erod for not much reason.
* BallsOfSteel: At the beginning of his ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' review, he says that when he mentioned he would review the movie in his "Princess Hate" editorial, people responded "If you touch that timeless treasure, I will impale your testicles on a set of toothpicks." He says that he no longer has any feeling down there because of the past abuse of his testicles, which he then shows.
* BasementDweller: It's a lovely house, but he lived with his mom until she died.
%% * BeardOfSorrow
* BeautyIsBad: Diamanda showed great restraint in not blowing up his head when he freaked at the site hiring scary-looking people like her.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Parodied for silly laughs. With all the suicides, shots to the head and occasional getting the shit kicked out of him, you'd think he'd at least be a little scarred. Averted in the "Why Do We Love Zombies" title card though, with his eyes [[{{motif}} milky white]], skin greying and blue, and a ton of lesions. He ''is'' truly a zombie after all. While it never actually happens, a lot of Zod's threats to Critic are heavily based on averting this, with EyeScream, "spilled organs", castration and general mutilation until he no longer looks human.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis:
** ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' being mostly a ''Franchise/StarWars'' analogy, he was the hero who The Emperor (played by Rob) wanted dead and gone. Even before that, in the ''Titanic'' movie review, he was the troubled Darth Vader to Rob's controlling Emperor. In the ''Star Wars'' version of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', ''he's'' the Emperor (with the General as his Darth Vader) and relishes the power.
** "Christmas With The Kranks", "The Uncanny Valley", and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" have him acknowledge his change into a more aggressive and abusive individual, in that he's tired of screwing up all the time, but CharacterDevelopment isn't always positive and he can't help being broken.
* BecauseISaidSo:
** In the phone call with Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', where she's not even doing anything wrong, just phoning because of the GuiltComplex he's made her have, he loses his temper and makes up rules to "keep her from distracting him".
** Turns out to be the case in ''Film/GhostDad'', as he's making up rules for Tamara/Malcolm to humiliate themselves with to punish them for torturing him.
* BeingGoodSucks: Played with, as his very conscious decision to atone for his mistakes and sacrifice himself to save the world got turned into a parodox by RealLifeWritesThePlot, so he gave up and miserably TookALevelInJerkass. But in ''I'll Be Home For Christmas'', he rants that being nice to people who want him dead is going to be ''so'' hard, and he'll fuck up, but he still wants to try because he has to get better.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Inverted. Whenever religion gets brought up, the ditziness is downplayed and he'll have intelligent things to say.
* BeneathTheMask: He's really scared of someone manipulative going inside his head and finding out all the nasty stuff he's feeling, so puts on a front and settles for complaining about being NotEvilJustMisunderstood. Enforced in ''Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'', as a chill patch makes him cute and safe and marketable about his love for Christmas, but when Tamara rips it off he turns into an embodiment of his NightmareFuelStationAttendant traits.
* BerserkButton:
** The "Bat Credit Card" and ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' drive him to psychopathic rage. By ''Christmas With The Kranks/Bunny Boobies'', both still make him angry, but he's more pissed off and upset that people keep wanting him to do both {{freak out}}s over and over. (Doug said in a 2012 interview that the former meme has given him a twitchy eye.)
** Since the show began again in 2013, the Critic ''despises'' [=TMZ=].
** Even after the reboot, he hates it when people bring up ''Doug''. In the "Disney Afternoon" episode, when Malcolm said how good ''Doug'' was, there was a cut and Malcolm nursing a black eye and couldn't feel much in his mouth.
** He would also kindly like you to not say the proper name of ''[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 DT]]'' because the [[EarWorm theme song]] finally got out of him.
** Anyone but himself bringing up ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Dr Hack at the end of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' got a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for saying the show's concept would make him money, and Yo in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' uses it to intentionally make him ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject.
** He's ''really'' tired of the 'beam/portal in the sky' cliche in movies and it ''will'' get a reaction out of him if it shows up. Subverted with ''Film/IronMan1'' where he's simply surprised to see it in something made much earlier.
* TheBGrade: Inverted. An A- was such a rare occasion that he got a trip to Chuck E Cheese whenever that happened. The bullying and always moving to new places probably had something to do with it.
* BigBad: The closest thing to one in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} [[spoiler: and "The Review Must Go On".]]
* BigEater: If all the junk food in the first Commercials Special is any indication, especially as he'd been sitting in the same place and stuffing himself for a ''week''.
* BizarreTasteInFood: He doesn't see the big deal about having a coffee, beer, pepto-bismal, Chinese food and pizza slurpie, or sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hotpockets with lard on the side and butter taken from real liposuctions. No wonder Santa Christ had to cure him from diabetes.
* BlessedWithSuck: ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' calls his increased meta (and reality warping) skills in the reboot "ruining", which he uses to his advantage but makes him crueler and even more depressed than he was when he didn't know he was a character.
* BloodKnight: A lot more pronounced in reboot. Against his will to be fair to him, as in ''Maximum Overdrive'' he craves the violence, but also doesn't want to be stereotypically male and realizes he should question it. Just doesn't want to.
%% * BoisterousWeakling: Although the "getting ordered around" bit (and sometimes getting beaten too) [[{{fetish}} doesn't]] bother him.
* BrainlessBeauty: For a time in ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He's been talent-bended so he has no emotion, but it also makes him coincidentally do everything he's told, and sets the blue PuppyDogEyes on full-time.
* BrainsAndBondage:
** He's a GeniusDitz masochist who loves aggressive women. In the first Nerd Rant, he's ''proud'' of how he tortures himself.
-->'''Critic''': So what's the point in seeing The Lost World? For you, none. For me, I'm a glutton for fucking punishment.
** When Tamara is thankful she doesn't have to be the Ana in a 50 Shades review, he complains at her that ballgags are surprisingly comfortable. When she asks how would he know, he lies "...research".
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he's smart enough to keep a HostageSituation going without getting arrested (though in Critic-show he's threatened with it a couple of times) and wants to be on General Anesthetic's leash as well as be invited to one of his play parties.
** In ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'', while Joker annoys him, he's perfectly happy with lime green anal beads until Joker reveals they've been used.
* BreakTheCutie:
%% ** Finally driven home in the "Commercials Special" when he bemoans that he used to have such dreams and promise.
** It turns out that the fuck-up lists were breaking him. He stopped fighting it at the beginning of the third episode, and at the end his frustration over ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' leads into a screaming tantrum about everyone being horrible. Even ''Douchey'' feels bad for him.
* BreakTheHaughty:
** After his psychotic creeper-dom in "The Review Must Go On", the ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' review gets him lower than even the beginning of ''Film/ScoobyDoo''. He's looking through garbage cans for stuff to review, goes back to bitching at the audience for wanting to see him suffer, is constantly scared by the movie to the point of ExhaustedEyebags (which is a first), begs Santa Christ to help him but gets abused, is told he's meant to suffer, suffers a heart attack and doesn't look especially happy about surviving it, begs Satan and his daughter to kill him but gets refused, plus a reference to his WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee death has him crawling on the floor and crying so hard he sounds like he's about to choke.
** Somewhat in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, as he treats Joe terribly and would very much like to think he's Superman given the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' speech playing in his head, but Zod makes him scared, mocks him for a crappy speech and the episode takes no interest in him after he's being held hostage.
* BrilliantButLazy: He knows how to take over the world but doesn't want to tell, and he can learn languages really fast when he's obsessing over something meaningless, but mostly he hasn't got the will or the self-esteem to change his life for the better. He got off his ass and succeeded in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' and a few months after, but even that got retconned.
* BrokenPedestal: With Santa Christ. In ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' he's disappointed to learn that the guy actually has a dark side, and said dark side is mostly focused on being cruel to him.
* BrokenRecord: When Rob is yelling at him (or dragging him off in the alternate scenes) at the end of ''Speed Racer'', mostly all he can do is beg he's sorry over and over in a tearful high pitched voice.
* BrokenTears:
** ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' has his crying disturbingly realistic for once, with choking sounds, a red face and dropping out of camera to the floor so nobody can see him.
** His crying in ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'' is painful as well, as he's curled up on the floor, clawing his scrunched up face and emitting noisy sobbing.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He is a comedic character that is eccentric, erratic and over-the-top but he's very straightforward as a critic and is strongly passionate about the things that he's talking about. Though he does get easily distracted by the random and wacky shenanigans that happens around him.
* ButtMonkey: WordOfGod says he was ''created'' to suffer. Deconstructed in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' onwards, where he breaks down over how hellish his life is and wants nothing more than to do something good for once. He tries to act like a successful MeanBoss during crossovers, and either the others get the upper hand or his own attitude does him in. Hyper and Devil Boner also mock him for his DistressedDude status at their hand, beaming with pride at the other for holding him hostage so well.
* ByronicHero: An impulsive cynic who has a TraumaCongaLine backstory. He ''wants'' to be good, but his self-loathing, whininess and temper keep getting in the way.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:C]]
* CameBackWrong: Aside from the far more cruel actions after coming back, multiple episodes have called him a zombie, and Matrix Month confirmed he was a RealityWarper with his PlotHole powers being called "ruining".
* CameBackStrong: [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity There are plenty of things off]], but in terms of the fourth wall he's a lot more aware of who's running the show, and what he can do if things don't go his way.
* CannotKeepASecret: He might have UndyingLoyalty, but his promise to Chester that he'd keep the Search For The Necronomicon just between them lasted for about twenty seconds.
* CannotSpitItOut: The look on his face after he just can't get up the nerve to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback" (and she doesn't notice) is almost depressing.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: The Critic never suspected that God would be watching his "Old vs. New" video of ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' vs. ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt''. He thought God was a benevolent and kind being, but God didn't let him get away with that statement.
-->'''God:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner "Your ass is grass."]]
* CantHoldHisLiquor: In the Snob/Phelous crossover, he was drunk and weepy by 6pm, not even knowing who Rob was, messier than usual, craving Ninja Turtles (even the third movie) and crying that he used to like ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. Snob called it "shockingly depressing" and Phelous wanted to hang himself. He compares ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'' to [[NoodleIncident that time]] he puked from having too much eggnog.
* CassandraTruth: When he tries to put Rocky's message of "people can change" to the real world, he gets punched and shot at.
%% * CatSmile: When he's trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.
* CausticCritic: The fact that he's a DeconstructiveParody of one, focusing on how ''miserable'' the job is, has become more clear as time goes on. He tries to make strong points about things in movies in a way that is so abrasive and bitterly hostile that sometimes he looks ridiculous as a result.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** As probably part of MiseryBuildsCharacter, his attitude towards Harley Quinn and the Joker's relationship. In his Top Eleven Animated Women, he has the hots for her (naturally) and likes the couple because it "gives homicidal maniacs like him a chance". In his Top Eleven Batman Episodes, he feels sorry for her, talks about how the pairing sums up DomesticAbuse in a nutshell and his one complaint about the episode is the {{fanservice}} of doctors in mini-skirts.
** In his first top eleven, the Scariest Nostalgic Moments, he calls the VillainSong in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWondlernad Care Bears In Wonderland]]'' gay and mentions that if you watch ''Franchise/CareBears'' long enough you see the face of the devil. When he actually reviews the three movies, he of course still thinks they're sickeningly sweet but is a lot more mature about explaining his problems with them.
** He started being calmer(ish) and giving a general review at the end of his episodes after ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' became the utter pinnacle of badness in his eyes.
** After the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' debacle, he's learned not to be entitled and complain about having to watch something when it's a movie he actually bought or rented.
** [[invoked]] Compare the reviews of ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' and ''Film/AlienResurrection''. The former has him salivating over a case of PlatonicWritingRomanticReading between two young-looking sisters and the latter a few years later has him irritated over how it was just advertised to get the male demographic in.
** All of the above become a plot-point in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[spoiler: when Doug tells him that he's evolved over the years from an abrasive comedy character into a decent and three-dimensional person.]]
** Part of the speech at the end of ''Christmas With The Kranks'' is addressing people who think his development has been undone since TBF, sadly noting that he ''has'' changed from then, in quite a few ways, but development doesn't always mean being a better person.
** He's gone from being ashamed of the fact that he's been crossdressing for ages, to accepting that he enjoys it and it's just what his show does.
* CharacterFilibuster: If his "child abuse" BerserkButton gets hit, the review will stop for a few minutes so he can get all his rant out.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Going from a happy, fanboying proto-Chester to a manic-depressive cynic, to Atoner for [[spoiler:the death of Ma-Ti]], to [[spoiler:self sacrificial saviour of the Awesomeverse]], to an abusive, depressed, condescending MetaGuy with too much power.
** In the ''Super Mario Brothers'' movie, he's grossed out by the big bertha and makes no fuss about the SatelliteLoveInterest either being a DamselInDistress or getting a flame thrower at the end. Watching it now, it's just... strange.
** Also in the early days, he talked about kids' short attention spans and getting easily bored. With his hate for FillingTheSilence, can you imagine him saying that now?
** In his second Nerd rant, he doesn't even know what a compliment is. Fast forward to now and he's ''desperate'' for a movie to give him something good to say.
** Something that applies to both Critic and Doug, but when they did a segment on how much they liked a film (think until about early 2010), their tone was more muted and Critic in the "Top Five Video Game Movies" practically sounds like he's on downers. After that, Doug let his absolute ''love'' for movies shine through everything, letting us get the {{keet}}ish fanboy we know and enjoy.
** In 2007/2008 days, take a drink for how many times he calls anything he doesn't like "gay". In later years, aside from having open crushes on men, even by ''Captain N'' he was apologizing for bottom of barrel gay jokes.
** It's weird to see him go on about how much he loves basketball in ''Film/SpaceJam'', when he makes it pretty clear he's not a sports guy later on, and Rob's mocked Doug for showing no interest in sports in a few vlogs.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks'' when a pre-character-based Critic tells 2015 Critic (who sadly admits his character development is fucked, but has a lot more depth) that "a white wall is our whole identity".
** Old "Top Ten Hottest Animated Women"-era Critic had no empathy for Harley and related to the Joker. ''Actual'' Critic relates to Harley and has played Catwoman and Poison Ivy for reference scenes with no QueerPeopleAreFunny.
* CharacterTics: Puckering his mouth when he's thinking, giving a DeathGlare with his mouth slightly open when he's trying to be angry but failing, and rubbing his chest any time he feels particularly naughty. The last is a Doug thing, as Ask That Guy does it and he himself is prone to it too. Reboot introduced clawing at the walls when he's in a particularly crazed-angry mood, as well as a wide-eyed pout when he's smugly trying to act innocent after he's said something shitty. He also bounces and shakes his fists when he's excited.
* TheChewToy: Part of the fun is seeing just how much he can suffer through a bad film before [[FreakOut he'll snap completely]].
** Not that he doesn't often deserve it, but the other contributors really do enjoy humiliating him. Even a long-dead [[Creator/VincentPrice guy]] has his fun.
* ChivalrousPervert: He gets upset at unneeded {{fanservice}}, [[PrincessesRule princesses]], [[DamselInDistress damsels in distress]], [[SatelliteLoveInterest male-dependent women]] and so on, but he'll make it clear if he's attracted to a (usually toppy or curvy) lady.
** A good early example would be ''A Kid In King Arthur's Court'', as he creepily leers over the two sisters and wants incestuous lesbian sex, but also coins "dumbass in distress disorder", calling out films like this and others for having a strong woman in the first two acts yet needing a man to save her in the third.
* ChummyCommies: He can't say it much in his own show, but "Bunny Boobies" has him wanting to go to Romania because he likes communism.
* ClosetKey: For Malcolm, who acted in the first Hyper vlog that this is his first crush on a guy and is "coming to terms" with it.
* CloseToHome:
** A lot of his choices in the "Top 11 New Halloween Classics" are about people descending into insanity, or locked in their crazy not being able to get out, and making the relating explicit when he sadly says the scariest monsters are human and he (or anyone else) could act like one at any time.
** In his top 11 Gravity Falls episodes, he relates to Pacifica in ''Northwest Manor Mystery'' because she's more fragile than she seems, and speaking of, ''Not What He Seems'' because of the being scared and not trusting reality.
** In ''Is A Charlie Brown Christmas Overrated", he likes the special for the fact that he can relate to not particularly happy childhoods and emotional confusion.
** Gaston is one of his favorite villains because he can relate to Belle being the victim of someone who won't take no.
** He's made a lot of references to getting molested as a child, and Freddy Got Fingered's scene of essentially mocking sexually abused children makes him outright say he was just in the worst mental place he's ever gone to. He's also notably ''very quiet'', himself and not the parody of earlier scenes, but not raising his voice at all.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The Critic can be just as eccentric as the wacky personalities that he surrounds himself with and insanely over-the-top in his comedic antics.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: Usually serves this role for Chester, in that he'll look after him but sometimes take advantage of his need for drugs.
* ColorMotif: Blue. The lighting is often blue ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Doug apparently sucks at white balance]]), the wall went from a warm yellow-orangey in prime to white in reboot and then to a cold blue when people complained, he's got InnocentBlueEyes, and he [[WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee exploded into blue particles when he died]].
* CompressedVice:
** In ''Tank Girl'' he goes on about how he can't deal with looking at beefcake, but before and after he's both given and appreciated FemaleGaze.
** ''Christmas Story II'' has the plot be Critic potentially losing his love for Christmas because of the bad movie, when 1) even he lampshades that will never happen and 2) the whole plot of the last review had the problem be that he loved Christmas ''too'' much (plus in the next week's editorial he rushes through it because again, wants it to be Christmas faster, and the ''Care Bears Nutcracker'' beginning has him suffering Christmas withdrawal).
** In ''Film/ThePurge'', he suddenly has a huge issue with being redundant, with even Malcolm asking why he'd risk his own life for that. Might just be self-righteous hypocrisy instead, considering he's doing the crossover that Film Brain demanded and he slaps Casper off after he says the above, but it's not made clear either way.
* CondescendingCompassion:
** After strawing him, ignoring him and having very little empathy, he eventually explains to Joe why ''Joe'' likes ''Film/ManOfSteel''. [[VillainHasAPoint Zod mocks him for the sad attempt at being a hero right afterwards]].
** PlayedForLaughs in "When Is A Movie Just A Movie" when his point is good (there are bigger problems than just movies) yet slathers on the condescension about how you can choose to not be effected by a movie. His ending is that he's the one with final say over which film is worth getting upset over though, so it's not irritating.
** "Why Do We Love Stupid" starts with him talking about the Dalai Lama's video on how compassion isn't weak but not quite getting the gist, using it to assume his "all comedy is misery" thing again.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror:
** The bad upbringing gives him a few moments, like thinking every family have regular giant arguments at dinner, rape not being considered a special type of evil or defending kinky fantasies at a very young age.
** He's also been taught to think that friendship is getting punished if you don't do what the more important one says.
** Talked about in the most melancholy way possible in "Why Do We Love Zombies", saying the real horror is just... getting used to the fear and how it beats you down.
* ConflictingLoyalty: Between his religious belief and wanting scientific proof that God exists. Mostly this is kept to the background not to offend anyone.
** In ''Maximum Overdrive'', he ''really'' wants to be a BloodKnight and perv on the violence, but also ''really'' wants to not be confined to his gender as his other hand keeps making him read Jane Austen whenever there's a violent scene.
** With Hyper. On the one hand he's scared of her, hates her enough to not even consider her a real person, has issues with kidnapping, and wants her gone. On the other hand he's tired enough to ShowSomeLeg[=/=]offer friendship in hopes that she'll leave him alone and not hurt him more. On the other other hand, even before StockholmSyndrome kicked in he indulged her because she gave him attention.
* ConstantlyCurious: In the first two commercial specials, even though he figures that the two 1800 numbers are run by pedophiles, he calls them anyway. (And doesn't hang up even though he's disgusted, but that's a different problem.)
* ConvertedFanboy: Took a bit longer to love WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, WesternAnimation/AdventureTime and WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse than Doug did, but regularly praises them for progressiveness and not talking down to kids.
* TheCorrupter: He has this unintentional ability to turn otherwise basically decent people into sadists. (Like Lewis and Doug agreeing that Linkara put the idea to rape Critic into Spoony's head.)
* CorruptTheCutie: He was a Catholic schoolboy, and while he's still religious, now he has an active sex life that isn't so big on SafeSaneAndConsensual.
-->'''Critic A''': ["apologizing"] What would Jesus do?
-->'''Critic B''': [instantly horny] Take me!
* CosmicPlaything: He really should stop pissing off beings with more powers than him. Deconstructed after WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as when he's finally happy and at peace, the universe (i.e CA needing money) made his sacrifice a paradox and brought him back, giving him ''all'' the issues.
* CosplayOtakuGirl: A RareMaleExample. An [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} M Bison]] costume that he brags got him tons of pussy, a {{stripperiffic}} [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Link outfit]], and, for his review of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', an Optimus Prime suit with a conspicuous crotch bulge that we get to look at every now and then.
* CrazyJealousGuy:
** For Chick. He can't always stop it coming through the stronger IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy feeling. He's wary over her obsession with Todd, gets all growly when she fawns over Creator/JewWario in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights, and looks close to tears (to her credit, so is she) when he mentions she doesn't always return phone calls or emails.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he gets possessive over anything that he considers his, from the Alf doll to [[HomoeroticSubtext General Anesthetic]].
* CrazyPrepared: "What You Never Knew About TMNT" is a video Critic just so happened to release in case he got captured by a crazy fan.
* CrazySurvivalist: He prepares with his gun, a police jacket, a S.W.A.T helmet, knuckle dusters and a baseball bat to watch ''Secret Of NIHM 2''.
%% * CreepyGood: When he wants to be disturbing, his mannerisms and voice are reminiscent of HIM from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. Just listen to him at the start of [[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6d52vf this]].
* CreepyShadowedUnderEyes: When an episode gives him black smears under his eyes (and it's not just Doug looking tired with no help), then it's a sign he's breaking harder than normal.
* CriminalAmnesiac: The Reloaded reviews have him constantly attack himself for being "too gay", the friends that had helped him atone in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, make racist comments towards Ma-Ti and not care one bit about said planeteer's death.
* CrustyCaretaker: The only other job he's had is Doug's factory cleaner gig (this was when Doug was still in school) and he got in trouble for hitting on "Amanda" too much.
* CuteButPsycho:
** Sometimes sweet, sometimes blowing up an entire city by accident because of a tantrum.
** Getting a SoProudOfYou from the Devil for a torture suggestion makes him giggle about having a lot to work with.
** "Psychotic princess" is the only way to describe him in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he gleefully kidnaps people to force them to be his friends, and keeps asking if he looks pretty in the winning tiara. He does.
* CuteGlassesBoy: It's not that Doug isn't attractive anyway, but his glasses make him look very baby-faced.
* CutenessProximity: He squees himself into teenage girl mode when he sees Snuffaluffagus in ''Series/SesameStreet''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:D]]
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Adds another level of funny when you get that he has all these things he could justifiably complain about and he chooses to focus on shitty movies instead.
** Lampshaded in "Top 11 New Halloween Classics" where he says fucked up shit happening with family might not have happened to you much, but he's got a history.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Doug said once that he chose the black suit jacket to establish the Critic as the asshole to the * DarkSecret: Accidentally strangling a hooker to death after WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} and while still in Reno. He admits this while thinking the camera's not on yet.
* DarkMessiah: He's friends with the devil, sold his soul, ''has'' saved the world three times and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' involves him being compared to Superman right before he has a screamfest about how the movie sucks.
%% * DatingCatwoman: According to Doug and Lindsay, he and the Chick had this sort of relationship.
%% * DeadpanSnarker: Mixed in with StepfordSnarker and bitterness.
* DealWithTheDevil: He's so desperate to have to have Sequel Month erased from his memory that he'll do whatever Sage tells him to do. He traded his soul away to Malcolm's devil for the ability to do a Zod impression, which showed how little anything means to him post-retcon.
* DeathByDespair: After fully breaking down about how his life has gone nowhere, he gets about an inch away from it in his first commercials special.
* DeathByMaterialism: Downplayed. He doesn't die for being OnlyInItForTheMoney in regards to ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', but he does end up in a worse place of sanity than he was already.
* DeathSeeker: You know, you could just leave the room or switch off the TV instead of trying to off yourself constantly.
** "Return was never an option" in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee. He's so given up that others start to notice, with Mickey outright telling him to not think about the PlotHole.
** After his brief period of happiness in the PlotHole, it's got even worse. In ''Son Of The Mask'' he's begging Satan to see sense and just let him die again.
** Right after Evilina tells him her dad will kill him if he finds out he left her alone, he agrees to come back, but looks over the horizon, stays that little extra longer and hits her later. And in ''Devil'' he outright goads [[spoiler: who he thinks is the Devil]] into killing him.
** In ''Ghost Dad'', [[spoiler: while he's only pretending to have died to torture Malcolm and Tamara]], he still poured gasoline all over himself and has nostalgic feelings over how nice it is to be dead.
* DefiantCaptive: Until he sees all the boy-pandering comics and StockholmSyndrome starts setting in, he gets in a few sarcastic comments to Hyper about the assassin pointing a gun at him or how long she's planning on keeping him for.
* DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel: Hams it up like a stereotypical maiden when he thinks Todd is a "masked intruder" there to rape him, and sulks big time when he founds it's just time for a crossover.
* DemonicPossession: In the AVGN vs. NC Final Battle, he gets possessed by the devil when he's losing and can only be killed for a short period by Super Mecha Death Christ.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In his own reviews, Doug writes Critic as an ExtremeDoormat who'll always end up giving in to other contributors demands for a crossover. In others (like WebVideo/TheRapCritic's review of Shaq's album), he'll have the stones to ignore any request.
** Even with the BaitTheDog moment of being nice then shooting her for no reason (which Doug lampshaded in the bloopers as grosser when he does it to a woman than vice versa), he's a lot less TroubledButCute in Lupa's "A Talking Cat" review, making more casual jokes and not treating her like he does Rachel or Tamara.
** He was always ditzier and more childlike in the ''Child's Play'' reviews with Phelous. Ended up contributing to their DramaticIrony dynamic [[spoiler: Phelous is WrongGenreSavvy because he thinks Critic is still a cowardly manchild, but in reality he's an atoning DeathSeeker]] in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' though, so Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad.
** In "The Review Must Go On", when the Creator tells a seething Donnie that he'll be more understanding as the Critic, review!Critic mocks that the only 'understanding' videos are the editorials and the rest of the time he's even nastier than before.
* DespairEventHorizon: He's already well past it when ''[[Film/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia The NeverEnding Story III]]'' begins. He approaches it at the end of ''Film/MyPetMonster'' and start of the following "Nostalgic Commercials" video, falling over the edge near the end.
** The death of Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' slowly eroded away what was left of his sanity and it all came to a head at the beginning of the ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' review.
** From "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green" to "Does Romeo And Juliet Suck", he hypocritically (because he's gone right back to square one) preaches of how people grow up and learn to adapt. But all the misery comes flooding back in ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' and he begs for death, so after that, nothing more is said about learning from your mistakes.
** All the meta from ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' hurt him a lot more than he let on in that episode, as in the next editorial he ends it talking about fighting too hard for your freedom makes your prison bars so much stronger.
** There's a whole swathe of events to choose from, but whatever happened before "Why Do We Love Zombies" got a speech about getting used to depression and giving in, letting it destroy you.
** Confirmed by Doug on the commentary, Critic almost kissing Hyper was going to be a stockholm version. Luckily Bennie reverses it by revealing her plan, but there are still issues post episode.
** In the BadFuture of 2019, he's completely alone, cries in front of Snob (who owns both him and the site) and has clearly crossed it a long time ago with no hope left at all.
** As his seventeen year old self is still a WideEyedIdealist despite everything that had gone on, Scooby Doo seems to confirm that it was the prom night rape that finally broke him to make him bitter and cynical.
* {{Determinator}}: He'll run all the way from Chicago to Philly to fight the Nerd (which apparently takes two weeks) and he won't even get tired.
* DeterminedDefeatist: He knows he's pathetic, but carries on because at least he's resilient.
* DefiledForever:
** Other than Chick going into DontYouDarePityMe mode and wanting revenge, he's the only left broken over getting raped by Spoony. Even if WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee where he's trying to save him, the spooning is still on his mind.
** While the two weeks that Hyper held him captive is more of a DidTheyOrDidntThey, he was really fucked up by what she did to him, and always backs away when they're in close contact.
* DepravedBisexual:
** Slots into the role a little too well in "The Review Must Go On", as he coos that Doug is cute, rides Mark Wahlberg's fake penis in ''Film/BoogieNights'' just to freak him out, threatens him while calling him 'Tinkerbell' and behaving like he's checking off a lot of items on the {{Domestic Abuse}}r list.
** The first couple of retooled ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' episodes had him hitting on all the male contestants he kidnapped, and flirting with General Anesthetic, first wanting to be invited to an S&M party and second asking if he looks pretty in a pink tiara.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: In "Cats And Dogs", the abusive mother gets him to play fetch with her like he's a dog, and he realizes how pitiful it is to be happy about this when he's literally got the ball in his mouth.
** Even though Santa Christ treats him awfully (confirmed by Walkers), Critic still gets upset at D-Bag kicking the former in the balls because "that's one of my friends".
** There are hints from the beginning, but Kranks outright says he started the show because he wanted abusive people to like him.
* DirtyCoward:
** In ''Film/GhostDad'', he openly says he hopes his making Tamara and Malcolm feel shit about themselves will give him enough time to run to his car like a coward. [[spoiler: it doesn't.]]
** In the "Best Avatar Episodes", he says "the needs of me outweigh the needs of you" to Malcolm when he leaves him to die.
** When Bay shoots at them in the ''Transformers 4'' review, he runs off [[spoiler: to get the ElectricTorture chair that he rigged up]] and tells Erod to draw his fire.
** In ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', he immediately betrays Santa Christ. Though this is less dirty than most (he didn't want to get tortured and it's not like Santa Christ hasn't been horrible to him for a while), he's still cast as the Judas.
** In ''Film/HocusPocus'', he says the best way of dealing with the witches is "running away like a pussy".
* DisappearedDad: He's mentioned very rarely and Critic still lives with his mom. There's been a few hints that the parents got divorced. (This is in-character of course, Doug's dad - Barney Walker - has helped out a lot with music and such, therefore gets thanked in the credits.) In a 2015 ''Last Angry Geek'' episode, it was revealed that [[spoiler: Dr Smith]] was his father, and he'd [[spoiler: died of cancer]] not too long ago.
* DissonantSerenity: Before he goes into LackOfEmpathy, his ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'' post-explosion demenour is pretty blissful, knowing this day would come.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: When he's being all determined to face down the Nerd at Digital Press, he checks out his reflection in a shop window.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Dulcia of ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'' defeats a mob of "giant black chickens" by swinging two stick-weapons "throwing them into some kind of hypnotic trance":
-->'''Critic''': Yeah, how's that supposed to put you in a trance, taking two sticks and putting them up and down, up and down, up and down, [''cut to Dulcia in her BattleBikini''] up and down...up and down... [''picture slowly zooms in on her breasts'']...up and down...up and down... [''gets his hat knocked off''] [{{Beat}}] You win this round, Dulcea.
* DistressedDude: Critic has been kidnapped, held hostage, or beaten up at least once by almost every character he's interacted with. Perpetrators include characters from the movie he's currently reviewing, his fellow content creators, sketch characters, and, according to a NoodleIncident in the Cats and Dogs review, a ''child that he babysat''. This is a common enough trope in the series that it's been lampshaded multiple times. Hyper Fangirl and Devil Boner even bonded over kidnapping Critic as a couple's activity.
* TheDogBitesBack: After getting beaten on by Casper for a whole episode, he puts on a Ghostbusters uniform and hunts him down.
** Likewise, with "True Internet Story", where he kicks the shit out of the Last Angry Geek for making wild accusations about his personality and earlier life.
* DomesticAbuse: In ''Film/TheShining'', it takes him no time at all to slip into abusive husband role to Rachel. She also acts like an abuse victim, rationalizing his behaviour and carrying on trying to help even when she's crying and he's toying with her.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In "Why Is Loki So Hot", he gets pissed about himself being put on [[invoked]] TheWoobie list [[note]]despite the fact that he isn't, he's on JerkassWoobie[[/note]] after reading that it means a character you feel bad for.
* DrivenByEnvy: He destroys Demo Reel and gives a bad review to The Uncanny Valley just because he doesn't like that [[Creator/DougWalker daddy]] wants to do other things that doesn't involve him for a change.
* DraggedIntoDrag: According to Spoony in his ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' video, he forced Critic to dress up like a dirty ballerina during Spooning With Spoony 2 and took pictures for blackmail.
* DragonWithAnAgenda:
** The other contributors think that he's the (ineffectual) MeanBoss of the site. In reality, it's The Other Guy (who answers to Michaud, who kidnapped him for [=BarFiesta=] and dismissed Critic as a monkey) and Critic's just a puppet with woefully poor self-esteem.
** Comes back in Sage's ''Speed Runner'' episode, where Critic kidnaps Sage and wants to keep him, but when Rob comes in and punishes him he's having a complete breakdown.
* TheDreaded:
** Malcolm tweeted after "The Worst Christmas Special Ever" that Critic now ''wants'' everyone to fear him.
%% ** Brad name-drops the trope to refer to Critic before he comes out in the final round of the game show pilot.
* DrivenToMadness:
%% ** ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' does this to the Critic in his 100th episode. It does it out of the ''sheer stupidity'' of the movie. So much so they sped the camera up for most of his breakdown.
** And ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' drives him [[{{Pun}} 'batshit insane']], until he takes some pills. "Tranquilizers. Always come prepared when Schumacher is involved."
* DrivenToSuicide: In [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] review of Captain America, he asks for the Critics opinion on the movie, [[SeriousBusiness making sure he knows that if he doesn't]], [[KickTheDog he'll get blackmailed with crossdressing pictures from when he was roofied and raped]]. Cut to a shot of the Critic's elevated feet dangling from side to side while squeaking from a rope is heard.
-->'''Spoony''': "That's the coward's way out, and you know it, Critic!"
** After his "''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' Top 11" review, the Critic mentions how the movies always make him smile, before remembering the tragic fates of Creator/ChristopherReeve, Creator/MargotKidder and the World Trade Center.
--->''"I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm going to go kill myself."''
*** Not all ''Superman ''movies make him smile. From his ''Superman IV'' review. "How long is this movie again?" "Hour and a half." "BLAM!"
** ''Film/BioDome'' made him slash his wrists, although either he or someone else put plasters on them afterwards.
** The songs in ''The Pebble And The Penguin'' make him feel so dirty that he takes a bath with a toaster.
** It's made clear in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee that he's trying to toe the line between wanting to die (plus that look of peace when he actually does) and wanting to fix his mistakes.
* DrunkWithPower: Seeing as how he has so little of it usually, when he does get the faintest whiff of power he'll try and cling to it as hard as he can.
** Less sympathetic in the reboot, as he says "power is always sexy, because the more of it you have, the more you can get whatever you want" in "Why Is Loki So Hot", and Doug confirmed in his "Disney Afternoon" commentary that having Tamara and Malcolm as essentially his toys to dress up was feeding into Critic's hunger for power.
** At the beginning of ''Sharknado'', he makes Snob say he needs Critic's help, just so he can be all giddy at the thought of it.
** In the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' he openly connects his Critic suit to having power and forcing people to do things for him.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: He pinches WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's ass--while almost unconscious himself.
* DumbStruck: Because Doug lost his voice again, ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' was so awful that Critic lost the ability to talk.
* DyingAlone: While it doesn't win the round, a CAH panel had Lewis use a card that said "Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm dying alone and in pain so you don't have to", and Doug nods happily.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:E]]
%% * EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Mostly a feminist, he still has his moments that come out in either RealWomenDontWearDresses beliefs or trying to see how far he can go until he gets put back in his place.
* EntitledBastard: Mixed with UngratefulBastard, in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' he tells Tamara that he'll probably need saving in the third act and if she, a "worthless sack of nothingness" could do it that'd be great.
** In ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'', he demands Tamara do her Dorothy impression even when she's dying from the explosion, and uses her as a footstool when she complains at him.
%% * EmptyShell:
%% ** He's got very close to this twice before snapping himself out of it. Funnily enough, both with song.
%% ** In "The Dark Age Of Movies", he references this seriously by adding in "sometimes in life all you can do is just survive".
%% ** Being {{mind rape}}d by Shya-Amon literally turns him into one of the BrainlessBeauty type.
* EndearinglyDorky: His resident LoonyFan Hyper Fangirl falls in love with the Critic because of his nerdiness, love for retro media, and his "half-professional, half-grungy clothes" (quite similar to her love for [[WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012 the Once-ler]]). Critic is ''not'' happy about this.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: ''Cartoon Allstars'' making him so miserable that he sees no other way out than to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] [[DeathIsCheap in the head]].
** And a more subtle one at the beginning. Even though seeing the movie "brings back a pool of disappointing memories", he's smiling when he says he has to watch it again.
** And another near the end. When the characters refuse to stop hammering the moral in, he starts to disagree when they say he should believe in himself and that they care about him.
** The reboot gets {{foreshadowing}} for later cruel out of the way quickly, as he bitches on a random guy's looks, calls the audience "uniquely lazy", talks like Ask That Guy when making a NAMBLA reference, and kills a kitten all in first few minutes.
* EthicalSlut: He thinks everyone, regardless of age or gender, should just have loads of sex and let the stigma of sluttiness as a bad thing die out. A few ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' episodes have him happily calling himself a ho.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** As much as he couldn't stand the Nerd, calling him WebVideo/TheIrateGamer is going too far.
** He does a NotMeThisTime when Todd, Jesu, Y and Rollo T accuse him of making them watch ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He doesn't even know who they are.
** Even he couldn't bring himself to insult ''Series/SesameStreet''.
** As bloodthirsty as he is in the ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, he starts getting a little disturbed by John's offscreen messy death as time goes on. In other episodes, when he's running the show, he's creeped out by the "spazzies" (violent animations done by Doug) and offers whoever made them some of his meds.
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards:
** The dorky dancing Peter does in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' is too geeky even for him.
** Subverted in the Harry Potter book launch. After spending the majority of the video bitching about it, he has a FreakOut {{squee}} larger than anyone when the books start coming out.
** There's an affectionate potshot at erotic fanfic writers when George Lucas and Carrie Fisher are the couple in ''Film/{{Hook}}''.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Only known as The Critic most of the time. Although Rob/The Other Guy will occasionally call him by his real name.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** He usually "jumps at the opportunity" to make a dick joke, but the one in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash'' is so half-assed that he just wants to relish the next one and pass this over.
** Doug has said plenty of times that he loves anything to do with gender role reversal, but Critic has no patience for cartoon Zelda's ep about it because they'd ''already'' switched it up.
** He has ConditionedToAcceptHorror issues, but side-eyes Hyper being fine with her brother burying her alive.
* EveryoneHatesMath: He can't remember any algebraic equation from school.
* EvilAllAlong: Subtle retcon in ''Film/TheShining'', as before then the reboot was always unclear whether Critic was ''supposed'' to be good but really didn't come off that way, or CameBackWrong and he didn't know what he was doing, or ThenLetMeBeEvil. Rachel telling him that she wished she could say that he was once nice to her but that wouldn't be true, proves it a mix of the last two.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he talks about knowing Mormons in "Top 11 South Park Episodes", he's throughly confused over how anyone could be "unusually nice, and ethical, and not angry, and just... ''pleasant''".
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheShining'' where he just wants to attack Stephen King because he's making his living by entertaining others.
-->'''Critic''': Oh-ho, we'll show him, won't we Pennywise?
* EvilerThanThou: After a long chase scene in ''BMX Bandits'', he admits Diamanda is darker than him, but that he still wants someone shot to alleviate the boredom.
* EvilSoundsDeep: In "The Review Must Go On", his voice was smoother and deeper as he took control over Doug. And whenever he thought Doug was wriggling out of his power, it only got lower and more threatening.
* ExtremeDoormat: While he's a brat who loves starting arguments, he falls apart with little provocation. He's aware of this.
-->'''Critic''': I just do what everyone tells me to do in the hopes of feeling less insecure.
** Subverted in ''The Top 11 Strangest Couples'', as when Little Kuriboh is in bed with him, he lets him touch him despite his discomfort, but throws the other man out when his chest gets groped.
* ExtremeOmnisexual: In "The Sixth Day", he disgusts Sci-Fi Guy by assuming Arnold would "test out" the really creepy doll, and has an Ask That Guy moment when he shrugs and reasons "a mouth is a mouth". [[spoiler: There are also two Critics in the end (...just go with it) and they both want to fuck each other.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:F]]
* FailureHero: It's very rare that he'll get what he wants or win.
* {{Fainting}}: The emotional kind is played for laughs in his review of ''Film/JudgeDredd'', ''Film/TheWizard'', the "I love you, wife" line from ''Film/LostInSpace'' and he uses fangirls from Disney movies to do yet more swooning over Creator/WillSmith in ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
* FallenHero: In terms of symbolism, WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee had him in a PeacefulInDeath CrucifiedHeroShot as he sacrificed himself before practically becoming God, while ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' had him prostrate himself in front of the devil and weepingly begging for death. In terms of personality, the reboot started with him maiming a cat and it only got worse from there. [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/02d00a1540e9dc860f72092793b8caf2/tumblr_moxptkMjcY1rfwqaro1_1280.png The Master Of Disguise]] dropped another anvil.
* {{Fanboy}}: Whenever there's something he likes, or at least a hammy GuiltyPleasure, he'll be gleeing and enjoying himself immensely. When he's faced with Don Bluth himself in ''Conquest Of The Commercials'' he goes super sonic {{squee}} before he realizes Don is pissed off with him.
* FanHater: While Doug himself is fine with people liking things he doesn't like, Critic frequently judges anybody who enjoys films he considers stupid. Several reviews have given him some insight as to why people enjoy films he hates (such as ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''), but [[IgnoredEpiphany he often rejects them and insists he's always right]]. In the case of ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights,'' he finds the fans so annoying that he outright ''[[ExaggeratedTrope kills]]'' them!
* FantasticRacism: Where he's not actually being racist himself but accusing others. In ''Monster Mash'' he accuses Maven of not allowing zombies like him to get [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything get married in Florida]], and there's a joke in "Why Do We Love Zombies" about raising zombie awareness.
* FeigningIntelligence: In ''The Dark Knight Begins Rising'' when he spews off social issue gibberish analyzing just to get back at The Last Angry Geek (and [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/40488-the-last-airbender Doug]], and [[http://benthesage.com/reviews/aa/anime-abandon-the-guyver-with-nostalgia-critic/ Sage]]) for pointing that coming back from the PlotHole has degraded his smarts.
* {{Fetish}}: Plenty. As stated in a few reviews; masochism, being humiliated, dildos, roleplay, bondage, fingering, licking whipped cream off a hot body, the Chick's firey temper and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick six-breasted cats from outer space]]. Plus he's mixed between knowing ''Film/EyesWideShut'' style orgies are creepy and abusive, but also wanting one to happen to him.
* FlatEarthAtheist: Early in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', he vehemently denies the existence of magic. Linkara, who carries a magic gun he only moments ago shot Critic with, gets reasonably angry at this.
* FluffyTamer: He hates meant-to-be-liked animals in movies (and they usually hate him right back), but falls completely in love with the gross ones, like the targ from ''Star Trek III''.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The foolish to the Other Guy's responsible. He's the {{Hotblooded}} PsychopathicManchild who gets wasted by 6PM.
* ForTheEvulz: In "The Plot To
*
* FreudianSlip:
** From the ''A Kid in King Arthur's Court'' review.
-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': Hey, they're actresses first and sisters second, and that's good enough in my porno--book.
** ''Film/BarbWire'': "I remember it so you don't boobies! I mean, boobies, in the boobies boobies..."
%% * FriendlessBackground: And no sign of [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist social services anywhere]]. This comes back in the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as it's his FreudianExcuse for kidnapping people and forcing them to be his friends.
%% * FriendToAllChildren: Except the [[BrattyHalfPint annoying ones]].
* FriendToPsychos: Explicitly to the Devil in ''Spawn'', as he says going down to hell was fun and he should do it more often.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:G]]
* GagPenis: [[spoiler:Thanks to Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Critic is unable to stand up from his chair and walk away at the end of his review of ''Film/{{The Phantom|1996}}''. Even he's embarrassed by it.]] It's also big enough that it keeps thumping against the desk during his review of ''Film/BlankCheck''.
* GeniusDitz: He's silly, gullible and not all there, but he's eloquent when not swearing up a storm, is very fond of black-and-white movies, can apparently follow black hole theories, is disgusted by the lack of history awareness in ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicVoyage'' and has a brain when it counts.
* GenreSavvy: "I know how this works. If I say the entire title that means that I've got to review it next week." [[GenreBlindness He always ends up saying it anyway]].
%% * GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Getting splashed with water is probably one of the nicer ways of doing that.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: In episodes like "A Kid in King Arthur's Court," he gets turned on thinking about lesbian subtext...even if they're also sisters. He justifies it by saying they're just actresses, "and that's good enough in my [[FreudianSlip porno]]-- I mean, book."
* GirlsHaveCooties: Before he hit puberty early, they were cootie-filled loudmouth annoyances.
-->'''Critic''': I don't know, maybe it's my inner little boy, but I just hate this fucking character [Webby], with her pwecious little bow and her cutie-cute dress and those cootie-filled eyes... boys forever! No girls allowed! I'm never going to like girls until the day I die! [shows cleavage] Aww shit, boobs ruin everything.
%% * GirlyRun: Shows off a flaily one in the beginning of ''Star Trek Insurrection''.
* GoGoEnslavement: In the Game Heroes promo. He's surprised and scared that he's wearing a different shirt, so he must have been unconscious and at least shirtless at some point.
* GoingCommando: When he creams himself at the end of ''Film/TheWorstWitch'', he sults that he's wearing a white suit so it's no problem.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation:
%% ** [[Film/BatmanAndRobin A Bat... credit card?]] A ''BAT'' '''CREDIT''' '''''CARD'''''!?!
%% ** "[[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry A cat and mouse]] are driving a ship trying to save the daughter of Franchise/IndianaJones while being chased by a purple people eater, a dog on a skateboard, a performing ship captain, his hand puppet Squawk, two Mexican wrestlers and a doctor riding an ice cream cart. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the [[MindScrew Mind Fuck]]."
** He does this in his ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' review. He has a "WE DON'T CARE" outburst when the chase scene pisses him off.
* GoldDigger:
** Manchild version, mixed with commentary-confirmed StockholmSyndrome. As soon as he sees that Hyper Fangirl has a ton of TestosteronePoisoning comics, he says he's under-estimated the perks of dating a psychopath. [[spoiler: Thankfully by the end he's thinking with his head brain, not his dick brain and tells her he'll never be into her]].
** In ''Film/DemolitionMan'', when Malcolm comes up with a good idea for the seashells, Critic tells him they'll marry and Critic can mooch off his money.
* GreenEyedMonster: Part of why he's a MeanBoss. This is the only thing he has so he's freaked out by people going into his territory and doing it better than him (or so he thinks).
* GrowingUpSucks: A slight variation of the trope, in that every stage of his life has proved to be a disappointment:
-->'''Critic''': "When you're a [[KidsAreCruel kid]] all you can think about is being in high school. When you're in [[TeensAreMonsters high school]] all you can think about is being in college. When you're in college all you can think about is being an adult. And when you're an [[JadedWashout adult]] all you can think about is being a [[ManChild kid again]]. LIFE FUCKING SUCKS!"
* TheGruntingOrgasm: Albeit not a very masculine-sounding one. Whenever he acts out an orgasm, it's about as high-pitched as you can get. Lampshaded by Doug's ''dad'' (because he'd been insulted by Doug previously) in the ''8 Crazy Nights'' behind the scenes video.
-->'''Mr. Walker''': You know with those sounds you make Doug you must have one hell of a home life.
%% * {{Guyliner}}: Most noticeable in the "Top Eleven Dumbest Superman Moments" and ''The Exorcist II''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:H]]
* HairTriggerTemper: Before he mellowed out in later episodes, he was an extremely moody, temperamental and hostile manchild who usually had moments of insane and manic fits of rage when a movie he reviews disturbs him or gets too stupid or confusing.
* HappyPlace: Catherine Zeta Jones wearing a tie, glasses, a baseball cap and a long sweater is the best ever image he can conjure up. As a kid, it was a naked April O'Neil covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
** Less sexually, commercials. As he puts it: "It's like they exist in their own little world, a world that wants to scam you and be nice to you at the exact same time. Something about them strangely gives me comfort."
** DarkerAndEdgier in ''Disney Afternoon'', as he's trying very hard to forget that commenting on cartoons is a current thing he does, and gets violent or depressed at any intrusion of reality.
** At the end of ''Film/TheShining'', of course parodying the movie, the inside of Critic's head is a house, with a wall full of demented pictures, and himself surrounded by people.
** When he's knocked out with a baseball bat in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'', he's happily skipping in a purple meadow with birds flying behind him and pretty music playing.
* HasAType: Aside from being an AggressiveSubmissive AmazonChaser, he tends to like shorter brunettes, the more fucked up in the head the better. A joke in ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'' review lampshades this, as he's so repressed that his fantasy is the very blonde (but still playing psychotic) Jessica Lange. He also likes confident and charming black men like Will Smith and Ernie Hudson.
* HatesBeingAlone:
** In ''Film/JudgeDredd'', when given the choice of living in an abusive care home or walking alone until death, he chooses the former.
** He kidnapped Malcolm so that he could have a TokenBlackFriend, and installed a chip in his head so that he blows up if he tries to leave Chicago.
** In ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', he's disappointed at having to do the review on his own and with [[ContinuityNod nobody to bounce off of]].
* HatesBeingTouched:
** He gets really skeeved by touchy feely in the reboot. So naturally he gets nearly everyone in his personal space, from Santa Christ to catwomen.
** In a specific-person example, he's shrunk back from Hyper twice when they've had a close conversation (mostly involving trying to get her to apologize for what she did to him), and just holding her hand in one of her vlogs makes him shudder.
%% * HatesSmallTalk: The awkward, filled-with-this date with the Chick drove him to breaking point.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Zig-zagged. While he sometimes gets into sexually-charged situations with male producers without making a big deal of it, he just as often catches himself fawning over male actors (notably Creator/WillSmith and Creator/HughJackman) and reminds the audience and himself how attracted he is to women.
-->'''Critic:''' [slaps himself after fantasizing about Will Smith] BOOBS! YOU LIKE BOOBS!
* HearingVoices: The voices of the kids who bullied him over ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' echo in his head, alongside genuinely creepy laughter.
* SheCleansUpNicely: In the Chick's ''Worst Witch'' review, despite the ridiculous wig, he manages to pull off an all-white suit quite impressively. Chick gets a little annoyed by how Elisa and Nella suddenly fangirl over him when he arrives.
** He looks better in Linkara's shirt and tie than [[http://blip.tv/at4w/at4w-superman-for-the-animals-1-6879891 Linkara does]].
* HeelRealization: At the ending of ''Matrix Revolutions'', Malcolm and Tamara are themselves again, and Critic notices that they haven't smiled in a while, and that's his fault. Though he's abusing them even harder by ''Film/DemolitionMan''.
* HerCodeNameWasMarySue:
** Critic in the title cards is far more villainous, masculine and competent than our version.
** In ''Film/TheMatrix'' review, he's TheChosenOne and it's his destiny to tell people why the film wasn't actually that good. As one can gather, when he complains about it Tamara tells him he wrote it so shh.
** Lampshaded in-universe at the beginning of ''Sharknado'', where Snob says he doesn't actually need Critic's help, he's just following the script Critic wrote.
* HeroicBSOD:
%% ** Has one during ''[[BlackComedyRape Spooning With Spoony 2]]''.
** Also, the Critic's "mourning" of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' a la ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' seems to have him rather depressed.
** ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' has him starting the review feeling like he just got raped.
** The Critic opens the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' review like this, apparently still in shock from the insanity of the show.
** Another one happens in his ''My Pet Monster'' review, where in the end he gets asked by the producers of the movie why he is reviewing kids movies and getting incredibly wound up by them at the age of 28. He decides he needs ask himself some hard questions, and spends the credits just sitting on a chair while sad music plays. The depression lasts until the next week where he's pigging out on junk food, his self-esteem is six feet under and he would have given up completely if it hadn't been for an epic HesBack number.
** ''Film/BabyGeniuses'' had him aimlessly wandering around Animarathon recalling that the movie was so horrible it left him unable to review it. He scares a random cosplayer, angsts a lot in his hotel room, punches a guy's lights out, screams at the convention audience in his Q&A panel and stares at the wall three times, each time forcing himself to look away. He snaps out of it when he realizes that his inner monologue counts as a review.
* HeroicSacrifice: At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[spoiler:The Critic joins with the Plot Hole]] to save the universe.
%% * HeroicSuicide: Twice, in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''. They have noble reasons, but both times he's happily relieved to be ending it.
%% * HeroWorshipper: "Lucas! ...darling."
* HeManWomanHater:
** He plays himself up as a sexist he-man in ''Film/Catwoman2004'', which only draws the ire of the catwomen.
-->'''Critic''': Suck my sexist women-bashing chauvinistic stripper-watching porn-loving overly paid dick!
** Lampshaded and played for laughs in the ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' review, as he starts out the episode with "boys rule!", praises treating the sister badly because "that'll teach girls for not indulging our prejudice" and treats Tamara awfully throughout.
* HesBack: After spending the his first commercial special depressed and ready to quit reviewing, he sings a kickass song and says he's proud of his patheticness at the end. It might not have lasted, but it was still a proud moment.
* HiddenDepths: He knows his Chinese, he plays the clarinet, his childhood idol was Film/MaryPoppins and he's a Shakespeare and Greek Mythology buff.
%% * HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: His childhood and the TraumaCongaLine that went on is built on BlackComedy.
* HolierThanThou: To
[[/index]]
%% * HolyHalo: Behind his head in [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/images/stories/front/ncearly.jpg this picture]]. It should be noted that with all the red and the threatening sword, the halo is not a good thing. (Link is dead, add real context before uncommenting.)
* HonorBeforeReason: He couldn't stop himself from saving a little girl in ''Care Bears II'' even when he knew it was a trap (thus getting himself kidnapped), and he still tried to protect his team against [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Malachite]] even after his groin must have been smashed into jelly.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: While easily being able to spot ObviouslyEvil in the movies he looks at, he's not so good when it comes to people in his own life. WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick and WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses are perfect examples.
* {{Hotblooded}}: He finds it incredibly difficult to hide any emotion, whether it's happy, depressed or angry.
* HumiliationConga: Pretty much the entire reason for the existence of the ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' review is because the Critic was forced at gun-point to give a ''positive review of a movie everyone liked'' to rectify the public's shameful opinion of his first (and probably last) LetsPlay, which was posted a week earlier.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** Doug put "Is It Right To Nitpick?" up on facebook noting the irony of Critic preaching about the subject.
** Sage calls him right out on this new trait in ''The Guyver'', telling him he has no right to bitch at other people (which he did) for enjoying something stupid and not letting anything go considering he does both things all the time.
** At the end of "When Is A Movie Just A Movie", after saying that it's your own problem if you get hurt by a movie and playing the [[invoked]] MST3KMantra song, he says that ''he'''s allowed to get upset at movies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:I]]
* IconicItem: His tie has become this, and his gun to a lesser extent. The former becomes somewhat important in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'', where it's only half-done when he's broken but tied properly when he's giving the poker game a shot.
* IconicOutfit: Baseball cap, white t-shirt, black suit jacket and a loose red tie. (And jeans of course.)
* IdenticalStranger:
** He shared a great resemblance to comic book writer Creator/EdBrubaker, known for his run on ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. And yes, that does make his review of the Matt Salinger ''Film/{{Captain America|1990}}'' movie hilarious for those that follow Captain America more than they do the Critic.
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, Erod gets him confused with Creator/EdwardNorton.
** In "Curse of the Commercials," he's shocked how much a kid in a [=McDonald=]'s commercial looks like him as a child, and wonders if he had a twin brother he never knew about.
* IGaveMyWord: He might despise the movies he's forced to sit through, but if he's promised to do them then he'll try his best to get through the pain. Even for the ''Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special" he only put up a bit of fight before giving up and doing his job.
* IgnoredEpiphany:
** At the end of ''Film/SurfNinjas'', after having a DyingDream where he likes it, he says he'll never like anything ever again. The next episode after was the "Top 11 Nostalgic Animated Shows", so that really didn't last.
** He feels guilty and confused over driving the analysts in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' to suicide, but quickly gets over it. Later in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lorax|2012}}'', he references it being his fault that they died but doesn't feel bad.
* IHatePastMe: ''Christmas With the Kranks'' has the Critic travelling back to 2007 so the review would be a "no effort deal' like his early videos. Eventually he has arguments with his past self and his modus operandi. But at the end, he remembers why he did the reviews in the first place (to be loved).
* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: In his "Film/WhereTheWildThingsAre" editorial, he briefly mentions feeling ugly and imagining himself as pretty.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: The business in the ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' was partly HappinessIsMandatory and partly he really needs people to like him again. Another instance of showing just how bad this is, he's overflowing with joy at the end of the Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland review because "he's never felt so loved". Seeing as he's only being celebrated because he didn't make a ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' joke... oof.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: He kidnapped Malcolm to force him to be his TokenBlackFriend (and chloroforms him occassionally when he gets mouthy) and WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot has him kidnapping people because he's never had any friends and craves them.
* IJustWantToBeYou:
** He went from having an open crush on Creator/WillSmith in the ''Film/IndependenceDay'' review, to saying every guy is jealous of Smith in ''Film/AfterEarth''.
** In the ''Top 11 Disney Princess Conspiracy Theories'', he includes himself in wanting to be like one of the Disney princesses.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: The videos after [[spoiler: Ma-Ti's death in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights]], especially the [[DespairEventHorizon Scooby Doo review]] show how much the guilt is affecting him to break down that much.
* ImAHumanitarian: Taking TestosteronePoisoning and RealMenEatMeat to the overcompensating extreme, he takes a bite out of a heart in the beginning of ''Film/DemolitionMan''. In ''[[WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot David Bowie's Codpiece]]'', he calls eating "people" delicious.
* ImmortalityHurts: In ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', Evilina strongly implies that to punish him for his stupidity in coming down from the PlotHole, he'll have to live forever. (Until her dad comes for his soul anyway.)
* ImmuneToDrugs: He's taken ketamine, mixtures of nyquil and vicodin, tylenol and hell knows what else, and he hasn't been found dead yet. He also survives the "90% morphine" fuckitall at the end of ''Blues Brothers 2000'', only forgetting his own name for a while whereas commercial!Tamara died from it.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: The "Top 11 Best Avatar Episodes" confirms that his weapon is ''meta'', that being the only way he can protect himself with everything else failing.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Particularly bad reviews will have him reaching for stuff like Jack Daniels or Jagermeister. ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' had him reaching for progressively larger bottles, culminating in one larger than ''he'' was. When he reviewed ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'', he had a skyscraper-sized bottle flown down via helicopters.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: His screaming rants are akin to little boy tantrums and Doug revealed he shouts at things because what's on the screen is scaring him, he can't hold onto being the "bad guy" for very long and he's easily prone to crying.
* InelegantBlubbering: His knowledge of a traditional breakdown is one where you're puffy-eyed, sniffing, snorting and can barely talk.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: He finally breaks down and says in the CR crossover that he doesn't want anyone going into his territory because they'd do it better than him, while the "Commercials Special" goes into his lack of self-esteem even more.
** Doug talks about it and Critic's relationship with others in the WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee commentary.
-->I usually find with a lot of insecure people, their closest friends, the people they depend on the most on for love, they can be the nicest to, and they can be the ''cruelest'' to.
%% * InformedAttribute: His AVGN-style song brags that he's the world's biggest and greatest cynic. If you say so.
* InformedFlaw:
** He's regularly making fun of himself for "screaming every other line", which is funny, but hasn't been relevant for the past few years. [[spoiler:Justified in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', where he uses it as an excuse of why he hates himself and nobody needs him.]]
** A slightly confusing joke in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' has Malice (for the second time) assuming Critic escaped from an asylum, this time because of the way he's dressed. Critic then reacts by telling her when she's dressed weird it's crazy, when he dresses weird it's avant-garde. A messy suit really isn't all that strange. [[spoiler: again explained later, as in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lorax|2012}}'' he's forced to realize that it has nothing to do with "avant-garde", his clothes were picked out just to appeal to female viewers]].
* InnocentlyInsensitive:
** Much like HorribleJudgeOfCharacter; fine with movies but sucks in real life. He doesn't get that being nice to Luke in front of Film Brain, congratulating the Chick on being a female version of him or assuming Chester didn't need the residuals of the BigLippedAlligatorMoment meme, would most definitely piss them off.
** He's been on purpose mean to Chester plenty of times, but genuinely feels bad about attributing his mental illness to assuming he's an alien at the end of ''Dreamcatcher''.
%% * TheInsomniac: Nyquil and Vicodin together? Ain't so healthy.
* InsufferableGenius: The Critic is a pretty intelligent and rational person but he can also be very stubborn, arrogant and opinionated at the same time.
* InsultOfEndearment: In ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'', the Chick called him a "stupid sack of shit" in the fondest tone she's ever had.
* InternalizedCategorism: He's Catholic and yet the religion is one of many on the list he's prejudiced against. The reloaded reviews, especially regarding WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, are one of the more literal examples of internalized homophobia, as he ends up bitching a lot about whoever made this (i.e himself) must be gay.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: He's a girly, overgrown kid with a vast array of cuddly toys. In ''Garfield 2'' he thinks turning the estate into a spa "sounds lovely".
* InUniverseCatharsis: Shooting things mainly. When he was a child, it was particularly goofy acting, the kind that he would want to bury from the public forever.
* InVinoVeritas: Phelous and Snob get pretty shocked when they see him vulnerably hanging onto The Other Guy and totally wasted in their "Troll 4" review. We aren't, because we've seen it before -- just a facade.
%% * IResembleThatRemark:
%% ** He doesn't exactly defend himself well when Phelous jokes that he's an [[Film/ChildsPlay evil, insane, catchphrase-spewing doll]].
%% ** Thanks to his clothes, everyone (in reboot anyway) thinks he's a hipster, and as analyst 1 in ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lorax|2012}}'' points out, it's not like he doesn't have hipster traits.
* IWantToBeARealMan: So desperate to be manly in reboot especially, though as he admits in "David Bowie's Codpiece", the only manly thing he feels he has is a penis, which is why he wears tight pants to accentuate it.
* IWorkAlone: In ''Bloodrayne'', he hates having to follow the tradition of having Linkara and Spoony review the movie with him, and tells them to piss off with no slapstick like before. They get their comeback with a pie in his face.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:J]]
* JadedWashout: Best summed up here:
-->'''Critic:''' Look at you, you had such dreams ahead of you, such promise, you were perfect back then -- okay you had stupid glasses, teeth like a chipmunk and a dumb and dumber haircut that only got dumb and dumber -- but you had such hope.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's stubborn, egotistical and prone to anger and extreme violence. He fiercely protects kids but has no patience for annoying dogs, he trashes other people's nostalgia but can't make it through ''Follow That Bird'' without {{squee}}ing, he's demanding of Chester but is the only one to give him money and a place to stay, he's a bastard to people but is so very loyal to the ones he cares about, he has a temper but heartwarming moments come regularly... let's just say this guy can get complicated. His review of ''Film/IllBeHomeForChristmas'' shows that in a stark contrast to D-Bag, he genuinely cares about the people in his life like Santa Christ and Chester. It's especially heartwarming with the latter since he threatened him to hurt him if he didn't make another Bum Review and yet in the end, he tells him to take his time. He also decides to let him and his fiancée stay in his house.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:K]]
%% * {{Keet}}: When he's actually enjoying himself.
* KickTheDog:
** Played for BlackComedy, but how he treats animals - gleeing when dogs have a chance of dying, throwing rocks at pets to see if their owners laugh, chucking a spider through a window because he's scared of it - will remind you that he's a PsychopathicManchild if you ever forget it.
** In ''Master Of Disguise'', he tosses out a "happy birthday" to Rachel (which is all she wanted) after he beat the shit out of her and fired her.
** Mocking a [[Creator/AnnaSophiaRobb fourteen year old girl]] for quite a few minutes because she was "too pretty" in ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia''. He lampshading the audience's "wtf" reaction by mocking another kid in ''Film/TheShining'' and letting them know it was at least meant to be a douchey thing that he was just going to be doing now.
** In the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, making it very clear he doesn't care about Joe's abuse, especially given his own history. And when Joe actually wants to explain something, ignores him completely for a picture of naked Emilia Clarke.
** Literally in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lejPief-1EA&feature=youtu.be original]] ''Film/FaceOff'' ending, as Rachel is in a box about to be shipped off to California, and he kicks it while saying "good riddance".
** Even after everything that happened in ''The Guyver'', according to "Lady Death" he still sends Sage rosaries because he doesn't get that, out of the two of them, Sage isn't the one in need of help here.
** In ''The Dark Knight Returns'', gleefully making Brian sad by reminding him that Critic is still more popular after getting caught out for his TookALevelInDumbass moment of thinking Two Face liked the number three when he kept wanting sets of two.
** Knocking Chester out with a baseball bat in "Nostalgia Critic Talks Transformers 4" was bad enough, but hitting him again just for believing his "be nice" speech was just mean.
** In ''Disney Afternoon'', shoving Malcolm's hurt shoulder because Malcolm is suffering from the beatdown Critic gave him and hasn't learned how to repress pain yet.
** Literally again in the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', when he's using Tamara as a footstool and kicks her in the back when she talks.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Usually done with The Last Angry Geek. Like when Geek put massively pricey, not needed shoulder pads on his bill, he said he was going to stop the Geek's show.
* KidAnova: After calling a kinky fantasy starring [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles April]] every kid's dream, he defensively reminds people that he was an early bloomer.
* KiddieKid: At first it sounds like he's being sarcastic about acting like a monkey in eighth grade, but then he turns out he actually did.
* KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms: When he watched Cool World as a young'un, he ran for the exit like the screen was on fire.
* KleptomaniacHero: In "Holiday Clusterfuck", he steals a woman's money after the Christmas stress drives her to suicide.
* TheKlutz:
** He managed to get three slashes on his right arm visible at 6.24 in the ''Film/Catwoman2004'' review, bruises on his mouth in the ''Film/JurassicPark'' review and a big cut across his neck at the beginning of ''Turbo''. In the ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' commentary, Doug asked very strongly to ignore them, especially marks from where he can't seem to stop hurting himself shaving.
** Parodied when Phelous throws a sock at his head. He falls around his house so much that he ends up shooting himself with his gun.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: He was as shocked as we were when he got to interview the crew of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' and they had actually liked his stuff. Same thing happened for Ebert enjoying his tribute and "Christopher Walken"/"Vincent Price" knowing who he is.
%% * KubrickStare: He often makes this expression (the grimacing kind) while reviewing movies that are frustrating him, most notably in ''Film/{{North}}''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:L]]
* LackOfEmpathy:
** In his amnesia state for the anniversary reviews. He's confused as to why everyone is mourning Ma-Ti's death in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' as a "small Indian boy is no big loss", and he only just barely stops himself from calling WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee-Critic a girl for showing off emotion.
** In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanet'', his initial reaction to "making people feel better" is "who gives a shit?"
** Subtly played in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'', as Critic gets all the memories from Doug's vlogs (which would include the times he talked about having [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-nightmares-and-daydreams-6618162 nightmares]], [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-the-awakening-6617306 how it feels to be a failure]], and [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-the-desert-6612841 knowing about grief]]) and feels pain, but when they meet up and he's back to HotBlooded, ignores Doug's repeated attempts to have Critic actually get his name right.
** Despite having a horrible childhood himself, he cares nothing for Joe having flashbacks to his father abusing him.
** When he kills a Happy Madison audience in ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'', he fakes a moment of silence for them and deadpans a "that was fun".
** While trying to get Rachel back in the beginning of ''Film/FaceOff'', he tells her to "throw away your future for my personal needs".
** Commercial!Malcolm asks him for help because Commercial!Tamara's foaming at the mouth, but Critic doesn't even look at them because he's too busy getting on his Blues Brothers soapbox.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', his love of Christmas destroys the world. He's upset about this for a second until he's more interested in doing a review. He also treats a hurting Tamara like a punching bag, though he gets punished by being eaten by zombie for that.
** Chester dies in ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', and while Beth and Tim are horrified, Critic doesn't care and calls "murder a total aphrodisiac".
** In "Smurfs 2'', when he doesn't care about her abusive grandfather, Tamara stays disgusted at him for the whole review considering his own past.
%% * LargeHam: WordOfGod says that the hamminess comes from WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, Jack Lemmon's performance as Professor Fate in ''Film/TheGreatRace'', and the Red Queen from the Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland''.
* LaserGuidedKarma:
** Usually he wouldn't deserve getting beaten and tortured with a pitchfork by an AxCrazy guy who was pretending to be blind, but after stating that he was about to bludgeon said guy to death just for a movie, he kinda does in this instance.
** In 2019, he gets a deliciously nasty punishment for being obsessed with money, rejecting his PlotHole happy ending and being both sexually repressed and abusing his underlings because he needs power: [[spoiler: having the site getting taken over by Snob, and being forced to do nothing but be his SexSlave]].
** In ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'', his sole motivation for doing the film is to get himself a ton of money and hits, yet when he gets told it didn't work because the net is fickle, he has a meltdown.
** As cruel as it is, he doesn't give a shit when Donnie's mom killed herself for his AesopCollateralDamage, so it makes sense that he NeverGotToSayGoodbye to his own mother.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', he's been abusing Tamara the whole episode, and gets his just desserts by being attacked by zombie-Malcolm.
* LaughingMad: In ''[[Film/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia The NeverEnding Story III]]'' review, after finishing the movie and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation getting mad]], in ''Chairman Of The Board'' where he laughs manically when he gets the meaning of Edison's name, when ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' ruins the one funny joke they had and when Zack shows his new haircut in ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. That last one gave him an orgasm.
* LastNameBasis: Everybody, friend or foe alike, unfailing calls him 'Critic'.
* LeaningOnTheFurniture: In a brief cool moment, he leans against the wall while the Grinch narrator is talking.
* LickedByTheDog: Even though they have their arguments, Chester always calls him nice and will be the first to defend him. Lampshaded in "I'll Be Home For Christmas'', where he says Chester has always been kind to him, and he's been more... mixed in response.
* LikesOlderWomen: As a sign of how desperate he is (and how pretty the grandma looks in "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"), he asks in said review if any attractive eighty year old women are single and gets roundly booed.
* LimitedWardrobe: According to the drawing in the Willy Wonka episode, he's worn the same clothes since kindergarten.
* LiteralMinded: To give an example from ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach''.
--> '''Earthworm''': Remember what your parents said, James!
--> '''Critic''': ..."Look out, a rhino"?
* LittleBitBeastly: Coming back from the future of seahorses gave him a temporary tail, though [[InformedAttribute we don't get to see it]].
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: Post-reboot, he's soulless, has accepted he's going to hell, and two episodes (Maven's "Monster Mash" and his "Why Do We Love Zombies") cast him as a zombie, reminding everyone that he's not meant to be alive. In the former review, Maven literally calls him a "reanimated dead guy".
* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
** He complains in his ''Film/ErnestSavesChristmas'' review that nobody ever tells him things like why the dinosaurs died out.
** During ''Bloodrayne'', in a nod to Doug being on his honeymoon and so not being involved when the firing actually happened, Critic too is totally confused when Linkara starts to go on about the ElephantInTheLivingRoom regarding Spoony.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Ever since coming back from the PlotHole, he's more alone than ever and doesn't even have Rob or other producers trying to look after him. Episodes like ''Film/TheMasterOfDisguise'' or ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' feature this issue prominently.
* LonelyRichKid: Evidently the only way his parents could give him any kind of love was to give whatever kind of toys he wanted.
%% * LongHairedPrettyBoy: When he was sixteen.
* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Even in 2009 he was forced to admit that his sex life is a complete clusterfuck.
-->'''Critic''': Ain't love a bitch?
* LoserProtagonist: He lives with his abusive mother, has a load of issues, his job is the only life he has and the other one was being a CrustyCaretaker, doesn't particularly have a lot of talent and has NoSocialSkills. The knowledge of all this hits him like a ton of bricks in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' and he spends WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee trying to fix it.
* LovableCoward: He gets freaked out constantly and driven to tears by things he could just turn off, but he's fun to watch.
* LovableNerd: Being played by Doug certainly helps.
%% * LoveBeforeFirstSight: It's lucky that Lindsay!Chick had so much chemistry with him, but from the way he acted in the "Search For The Nostalgia Chick", he was going to be in love with whatever woman won.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Soulless getting tortured because of him gets a grim but happy smile, and that's what we end ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' review on.
* LoveRedeems: Disney can bring him back from being a psychopath and his enjoyment of Christmas can never be broken.
* LustObject:
** Spoony has lust for everyone, but he's ''really'' proud to have Critic as a conquest. And we're guessing he didn't blackmail others or break into their houses.
** The Hyper Fangirl storyline is all about how he's one for said fangirl, who keeps breaking into his house with the intent to make him her romantic property, which he's violently against to the point of threatening to kill her for not leaving him alone.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M]]
%% * MaddenIntoMisanthropy: His temper usually builds up using this method.
* MadeASlave: In 2019, Snob takes over the site and Critic is forced to do nothing but serve him sexually.
* MadeOfIron: Lampshaded (and meta'd) in "The Best Avatar Episodes" when Critic complain-asks how his body can take so much abuse.
* TheMadHatter:
** Already crazy in the original run, in the reboot, he's more accepting/embracing his growing crazy (partly because he has more power) and openly says at the end of the ''Film/GhostRider2007'' review that "a new year of madness is on the way".
** Lampshaded in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' when the CuteAndPsycho Malice assumes three times that he's escaped from a mental asylum, and Critic never gets offended like a normal person would be.
** Lampshaded loudly and violently at the end of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer", where Critic is free from sedation chains and it morphs him into an AxCrazy Riddler rip-off who sings about how much he 'loves' Christmas.
* MadnessMakeover: "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" does it a bit differently. Sedated Critic is in a safe jumper, with sparkling eyes and a pretty smile, openly saying he needs to be marketable. When he's free from this, he doesn't go into normal clothes with SanitySlippage or anything, but all the batshit coming out at once turns him into the Riddler.
* MadnessMantra: All he could write while watching ''Film/BioDome'' was "why why why why why why...", and in ''Film/DropDeadFred'', after the friend praises the lead for her craziness: "No! No! No! No! No! No!..."
* {{Manchild}}: [[WordOfGod Doug]] seems to put the Critic's mental age at about twelve. A few examples of this being he still believes in Santa, hiding under the desk when he's afraid and he also still eats at Chuck E. Cheese's. Lampshaded in "Rise Of The Commercials", where he's too busy laughing to say anything about the women's douching commercials, and demands to go to the next one because he's too immature.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** In "The Review Must Go On", as he wears Doug down and doesn't care that he's hurting him, insult-threatens him when Doug actually does try leaving, brightens up when he gets what he wants, but goes low and threatening again when Doug has another condition.
** He succeeds for a while in ''Film/GhostDad'' being awful to Tamara and Malcolm, but fails when he decides to tell them everything, as even Tamara points out. Whether this comes from extreme stupidity or masochism (or both) is left unanswered.
* MarriedToTheJob: Talking about Zelda in the cartoon, he tells her to back off pushing away loved ones so she can work more because he owns that.
%% * MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to the Nostalgia Chick's Masculine Girl. He also acted as the Feminine Boy to WebVideo/ObscurusLupa in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage:
** To the Hyper Fangirl. Not because he has any feeling towards her, but he doesn't help her deluded viewpoint when he pretends to be her friend (because he likes rejecting her attention), threatens to stalk her back (because he thought that would scare her) or when he admits to her that he wears silk boxers ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking because she asked and he's a vain puppy]]).\\
In a con panel, when she's forced him to "[[DoubleEntendre build a snowman]]" with her (to clarify he even asked her would any answer make her leave him alone and she said no), he gives her a hug and skips off with her, and then runs back alone after pushing her off the balcony.\\
The way he tells it, it was ShowSomeLeg to placate her and he wants to pawn her off to anyone he can because she's awful, but making her his silent business partner probably wasn't a good idea.
* MeanBoss: Deconstructed. Whenever someone's done something that's more his area or something's already done, he'll pop up and be a pain in the ass. However, he answers to puppet-master The Other Guy, he'll crumble and have a breakdown under any type of argument, he's revealed that he does this because he's so deeply insecure and when he [[YankTheDogsChain thinks]] Lupa listened to what he had to say, he was the most optimistic about life that he's ever been. Rachel tried to kill him for forgetting her birthday as part of the running joke. [[spoiler: Critic knocked her out and fired her.]] Crosses over with PsychopathicManchild when it comes to Malcolm and Tamara, as he routinely forces them to dress up in childish costumes and play along with his crazy, and taken to new heights in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', as he makes them find out how the three sea shells work, and says that he has two spinal cord removal machines, one for each of them.
* MessianicArchetype: [[spoiler: After he took on the PlotHole]]. He'd still snark, but protecting the universe did his temper, self-worth issues, intelligence and maturity a world of good. Completely reversed when he came back down though.
* MetaGuy: Deconstructed. He came back through tormenting his creator, and while straddling the fourth wall has given him more power and made him more dismissive of his own character and plot devices, it's also made him sadder and crazier because it's a defence mechanism that doesn't always work.
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: He blew up a planet with his love for Christmas in the ''Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas'' review.
* MilesGloriosus: Aang killed Shyamalan in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' and the Devil killed him in ''Film/{{Devil}}'', but Critic (who was the DistressedDude both times) takes all the credit for it in ''Film/AfterEarth''.
* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: He admits in the ''Film/{{Gordy}}'' review that he's so tired.
* MisterSeahorse: WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick forced him to get preggers through fairy sex one time.
* MommasBoy: Him getting a phone call that she died is genuinely PlayedForDrama, and even when the JumpScare RunningGag comes back he's screaming about the unfairness.
* MoodSwinger: He's a bit like a Hollywood-style manic depressive. Particularly evident in the first part of ''Disney Afternoon'', where he goes from giddy excited over the shows to anger just when the (younger) Malcolm and Tamara dare to not know exactly what he's talking about.
* MotiveDecay: Critic's reason for bashing Stephen King went from "he's a great writer but the adaptations can be really silly so let's point those flaws out" (The Langoliers) to "I just want to rip on something that's entertaining to people" (The Shining). The TookALevelInJerkass change was heavily lampshaded, to the point where he has to go catatonic when he realizes that King did something better than Kubrick.
%% * TheMovieBuff: It's part of his job.
* MrExposition: Is a very bored one to both Evilina in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' and Malice in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', as they don't know Hollywood's relationship with Dr. Seuss and Creator/TimBurton's formula respectfully.
* MrImagination: He manages to outdream Stanley in the ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'' review. Only his dreams are slightly more... painful to the titular troll. And when he can't stop himself from imagining the babies between Goliath and Elisa, he bitches that his mind never does what he tells it to.
%% * MustHaveCaffeine: Who in the right mind has coffee before going to sleep?
%% * MyBelovedSmother: "Hey, she's my world!" But like Ask That Guy, he can't stop himself from having a fantasy about her dying every now and then.
* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: In late 2011/early 2012, there's been a reference in a lot of episodes about wanting to be or acting like a father.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** He has a crying fit when his Nintendo disappears after he stops playing it.
** In his third Nostalgic Commercials special, he orders an off-screen minion to inject five people with diabetes (however ''that's'' supposed to work...) then stops and says, "Dear God, I think I might be horrible."
** Accidentally killing Film/MaryPoppins, his first childhood icon, crushes him.
** After making the obligatory gay joke about Bert And Ernie, he breaks down to all the cast of ''Series/SesameStreet'' and apologizes for trying to review the first show he ever saw.
** The lyrics Lindsay used at the end of "Thanks For The Feedback" implies this:
--> "Baby come back, you can blame it all on me. I was wrong..."
** He breaks down immediately after shooting Floss for no reason other than getting a sad ending.
** If he didn't regret forcing Doug to bring him back by the time Santa Christ decided to be vindictive to him, then there's no doubt he did when the devil's daughter decided it was crueler to leave him alive.
** In an example where he hadn't done anything wrong, hearing that his dead mom didn't tell him about her illness because she knew he was a {{workaholic}} makes him look like he's dangerously close to crying right there and then.
** Twice in ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''. First he betrays Santa Christ and leaves crying, and then when Santa Christ flips the bird at him and he tells the torturers to carry on, it cuts back to present day where he calls the flashbacks gross and gratuitous.
** In a moment of pouty lucidity, he realizes at the end of ''Disney Afternoon'' that bringing Malcolm's mom in "to be authentic" is probably going too far.
** In ''Spawn'', he has a moment of regret for helping the Devil take over the world, but when it's revealed the latter's army is a load of Kermits, he assumes it won't be so bad.
** He treats the abuse kids, Melody and Cliff, really badly in ''Monkeybone'', but when he finds out their parents are Aunt Despair and Uncle Lies, he connects the dots and feels bad. He makes it up to them in ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' and when his anxiety explodes after trying to keep the peace and getting his cereal mocked, scaring them, he's horrified with himself for "ruining everything". Luckily for him the other adults tell him [[PetTheDog it's alright]].
* MyGreatestFailure: Ma-Ti's death in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' made him disquietingly obsessed with responsibility and consequences.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:N]]
* NecktieLeash: Done more and more as times goes on, but averted in his review of ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. They took it away so he wouldn't hang himself.
** In their battles, WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd had a special fondness for pulling it for the sake of pulling it.
** Three words, given by Spoony: "ride the pony".
** The Game Heroes also pull his tie while forcing him to promote their t-shirts. Slightly unnecessary as he's also tied up, at gunpoint and clearly not going anywhere, but nobody's complaining.
** Even the fans join in the fun during the ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' credits, to punish him for his dislike of ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle''.
** Santa Christ in TookALevelInJerkass mode pulls it in ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', with Rob saying later that moment is one of his favorites.
* NervousWreck: He's pretty easy to stress out.
* NeverBareheaded: He rarely takes off his hat on the show. Exceptions are his ''Batman and Robin'' review and his ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'' tribute.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: Along with the FriendlessBackground FreudianExcuse, the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' had him say three times that he had to kidnap people before they could capture him themselves (context: he's been a DistressedDude ''a lot'').
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: He's seriously upset when ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' makes him kill innocent Disney characters.
* NeverMyFault:
** When ''WebVideo/DarkSideOfTheInternet'' ends with the aesop that people can't just act like nothing is wrong because cyberbullying keeps happening, he gets angry and complains that it's his right to dodge responsibility.
** While he might know it deep down (as he's the one who wanted Tamara to hurt him in the first place), he tortures and humiliates her and Malcolm whenever they try and get back at him for making them suffer originally, and never fully acknowledges the last part is why they try and hurt him back.
* NightmareFetishist: His perfect ending for the Santa Claus movie (an awkwardly sweet piece of camp) would be that it was all a DyingDream caused by being out in a blizzard.
** What later causes Tamara to be hired in-universe; he realizes people find his pain sexy, and after she succeeds in her scheme to make him talk about the Bee Torture scene in ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'' and why it became a meme, he decides she's worth keeping around.
** He's delighted to be playing the Emperor in the PQH Star Wars edition, and to be saying all the ColdBloodedTorture lines.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Who wants to know where he got that skull from and what he's actually drinking?
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: He could never resist a challenge from the Nerd, no matter how hard he'd got his ass beat the previous time.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished:
** He hates his audience for being sadistic, ungrateful pricks[[note]]Note that Doug loves his fans.[[/note]] but will put himself through an ungodly shitty film because they requested it all the time. This usually doesn't end well for him.
** Even though the Ghost Of Christmas Future has been an annoying, stalker-like bastard throughout the ''Film/BabesInToyland'' review, when the Critic sees that he's depressed, he acts very fatherly and comforting towards him. He then makes the mistake of letting the ghost choose what movie he should suffer through next, and the ghost ''immediately'' picks ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''.
* NonActionGuy: Even with his gun, whenever he gets into a fight, he mostly ends up on the ground or running off making girly whimpery noises.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace:
** With the Chick. Seeing as how she's just as bad, she doesn't seem to mind too much.
** In ''Star Trek Insurrection'', he was close enough to That Sci-Fi Guy to look particularly molesty. Not to mention they were lying in bed together.
** With Tamara in the ''Disney Afternoon'' episode, who so doesn't enjoy it that she lets out a scream when he suddenly hugs her. It's up for debate whether he's too wrapped up in his cuckoo to notice, or is just doing it to make her feel vulnerable.
* NoSocialSkills: In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' vlogs, Doug compared Critic to the heavily-autistic-coded Peridot.
* NoSympathy: To girls sexually abused in Canada. He makes fun of the awareness psa in "Dawn Of The Commercials" for being a killjoy, repeats the joke in ''Film/ThePurge'' review saying it'd be unsafe to go there, and brings it up again in "Rise Of The Commercials". The sexual abuse statistic is one in two girls by the way.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Although he's shown a lot of attraction to the Chick before, he's more annoyed that even she enjoys ''Film/MoulinRouge'' than anything else. He doesn't even seem to notice that she's wearing burlesque.
* NotSoAboveItAll:
** At the end of his ''Film/LostInSpace'' review, he rants to the first appearance of Dr. Smith about nobody can trust him, but then he's easily manipulated and gets shot by his own gun. [[spoiler: This gets explained (and quite sad) many years later when it's revealed Dr Smith is Critic's dad[[/spoiler]].
** He calls out the Care Bears for falling for Christie's and Darkheart's trap, but her screaming breaks him down and he goes to help, getting bagged in the process. He can't resist their ThePowerOfLove moment either, and shouts out for Santa Christ.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
** Shown in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' where he's willing to commit mass murder-suicide through dynamite if anyone threatened the power he'd finally managed to gain.
** Erod gets a reminder in the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, having electrocuted Critic onto his knees, but then when Critic's eyes are replaced with electricity (which then go to his hands), he says he forgot Critic has ambiguous CameBackWrong powers.
* NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat: In the ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' review. Even Doug and Rob admitted soon after that the review was not one of their finest moments, and maybe it's not a coincidence that the Critic character started getting progressively girlier in later episodes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:O]]
* ObliviouslyEvil: Played with in reboot. He'll do something wrong, get called out, and then [[ThenLetMeBeEvil openly and maliciously continue doing the awful thing]]. Like ''Film/TheShining'', he treats Rachel and Malcolm terribly in the opening, is genuinely disappointed when they leave, but abuses her and tries to kill him when they come back.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Lampshaded when he's hitting on Catherine ''Zeta'' Jones. He tries to get with her by saying he's [[BlatantLies really eighty four]]. (He's really thirty+ but looks like a teenager with a beard.) In the ''Hocus Pocus'' behind the scenes, when he's shaving his beard off, Doug mentions that people think he looks younger without it and that's only because his "chipmunk cheeks" are more emphasized.
* OneNoteCook: He can only make cereal. Lampshaded in "Fuck Ups Part Three" where he notes he should probably spend more time in the kitchen and less time gobbling junk food. A trait he apparently shares with Doug, who admitted in the AT vlogs that he can only make Mac and Cheese.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: In the reboot he's almost refreshingly shameless about it, telling various women that they need to be exploited for views, bringing in a Dr. Hack so he can lazily stick to a formula while making loads of cash, and in ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', has literal money signs in his eyes when he realizes he can make a profit of getting on the bandwagon. [[spoiler: the last one ends up biting him in the ass.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToInsultYou: When he [[InsultMisfire thinks]] Linkara is calling WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick a wussy, he tells him he's not allowed to insult her in that way.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** In ''Kickassia'' (and it lasts throughout the show), Film Brain starts to realize there's something wrong when Critic says for the first time that he doesn't want to review movies anymore.
** Even disregarding angry {{cluster f bomb}}s, swearing is a fairly natural part of his vocabulary. So when he goes GoshdangItToHeck or doesn't swear at all, something's either gone very wrong or very right.
** If he thinks a child getting hit is funny rather than horrible, you'll know the child character is [[TheScrappy incredibly annoying.]]
** Speaking of children, he sold his soul in early reboot, which might explain not regretting hitting Evilina in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' and the pedophile jokes in ''Anime/SailorMoon''.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: When Doug did top elevens or tributes in the earlier days, he could never quite stop his real Chicago drawl coming through Critic's broad everyman accent. Luckily he eventually managed to hide it completely. (Except in bloopers obviously.)
* OpinionMyopia: Sometimes acts like almost everyone agrees with him, even if the movie was pretty popular like the first two ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' sequels. There are plenty of other times he fully acknowledges a BrokenBase and offers his take.
* OralFixation: That joystick can't have tasted all that nice. Exaggerated in ''Critic Tank'' when he's a judge openly pushing and pulling the pen into and out of his mouth.
* OutOfCharacterMoment:
** In the middle bit of ''Film/{{Airborne}}'', he comes across (unintentionally) as a bit of a HeteronormativeCrusader who thinks the lead isn't a proper man because he wants to be a pacifist and not fight. He gets out of it near the end, but it was a weird period for a SissyVillain who hates morals of "solve problems by fighting".
** In the ''Film/TankGirl'' review, he freaks over a possibly horny woman director wanting a ShirtlessScene for a man. He never acted like that before, he's never acted like that again and he's even made much use of the FemaleGaze himself.
** In the ''Film/ChildsPlay2'' review; "Yeah, when you're going to tie up a child, do it for the same reason I would. To beat him." Because that sounds like the guy who invokes GodwinsLaw on [[WesternAnimation/BebesKids someone who is an asshole to their kids and then leaves them]].
** Early reboot Critic could be a sexist asshole like he was in earliest prime days, but is "proud to be a sexist" rant in ''Catwoman'' was extreme and in later years he went back to at least trying (his abusing Rachel and Tamara is meant to be a bad thing).
** When Soulless is pressuring him with an AnnoyingLaugh and everyone is waiting for him to come out with it and praise Jim Carrey in ''The Grinch'', he acts more like a ShrinkingViolet than usual HotBlooded, hiding his face while begging it to stop and only raising his voice once. Considering his lack of soul at this point, it makes sense.
** "Top 11 GOOD Things from the Star Wars Prequels" is one of those editorials where it can't be considered as anything but Doug instead of Critic talking, as it's all about appreciating the good bits in something considered bad, even Malcolm has expressed discomfort on how much Critic can dig his claws into actors, and while one of the spots was less Jar Jar as the movies went on, it was only a week ago that Critic had bombed the creature in an act of crazy.
** Although Doug defended it (and then pushed the thread into CanonDiscontinuity), his conclusion in ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' that men can't and have no idea when they're getting hit on doesn't match at all with his history (Spoony, prom night, the massive amounts of HomoeroticSubtext and ShipTease with nearly every producer) or his future (the Hyper Fangirl storyline where he hates her for always ignoring him when he says no).
** A couple of 2013 episodes had Critic see crossdressing as gross and humiliating, even though he'd done it plenty of times before. By 2014 he was back to being proud that everyone on his show was into crossdressing and gender fuckery.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:P]]
* PapaWolf: Even if he thinks the kid's a BrattyHalfPint, treat a child badly or don't take responsibility, and Critic will '''hate''' you.
* PetTheDog:
** Because making fun of Lupa's death threats would just make Doug look terrible, Critic is a lot kinder to the ''WebVideo/DarkSideOfTheInternet'' than the other 5th year segments, and outright says after her part that he can't find anything to make fun of. It's also the only one he calls flawless.
** After a long while of treating them terribly, he's glad that Malcolm and Tamara are smiling for a change at the end of ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' and agrees to go out for a drink with them.
** He tells Chester in "I'll Be Home For Christmas" that he's sorry for not always taking best care of the bum, and thanks him for always being kind despite that.
* ThePerfectionist: One of his major problems is that he always expects too much out of everything and so sets himself up for disappointment.
* PersonaNonGrata: In his review of ''Film/Jaws3D'', NC states that due to an [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} incident]], he can never go back to Nevada.
* PersonOfMassDestruction:
** In his ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' review, he got so angry with the movie for not explaining anything that he accidentally caused a massive explosion that destroyed an entire city. ''Twice''.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', his Christmas obsession destroys the world. Mixed with RealityWarper again as he casually tells Tamara he'll make it non-canon.
** For Christmas 2016, his love for the holiday went to the extreme of happily destroying an entire planet.
* PerverseSexualLust: For Catherine Zeta Jones, as we find out in his [[TopTenList Top 11]] [[VillainSong Villain Songs]] video. It's an inverted example as the Critic is a fictional character while Catherine Zeta Jones is a real life actress.
* PhraseCatcher: On occasion, his getting something wrong about something has led him to be labeled an "anti-[INSERT NOUN HERE]-ite". Mainly occurs in the ''Fuck-Ups'' videos.
* PingPongNaivete: His intelligence and competence will vary depending on who he's with and if it's funny for him to be stupid or not.
* PinkMeansFeminine: His bedroom has pink curtains. Amusingly, the first time we saw them was when he was writing in his diary like a teenage girl in the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' review.
* PlayingWithFire: When reviewing the "Top 11 Avatar episodes" he learns to firebend. [[spoiler:Unlike the powerful blasts Dante Basco shot, Critic was firing Mario-like fireballs]]. Firebending was also what he tried in "Top 11 Adult Jokes We Never Got As Kids". He failed there too, blowing up the guy overseeing him by accident.
* PleaseIWillDoAnything: Quite frequently. He did it when ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' were going to sing another song, when he was made to review the Star Wars Holiday Special and even though it wasn't begging, he did say he would give Devil Sage everything if he took his memories of Sequel Month away. By Hyper's 2015 Midwest Media Expo vlog, he's exhausted enough of this AbhorrentAdmirer storyline to ask even if he did whatever she wanted would she leave him alone. When she says no, he pretends to be into her until he gets the chance to push her out of a window.
* PlotArmor: Notable in ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', where he {{dope slap}}s a woman who has killed three people for much less and just gets away with her being pissed off at him and holding her knife to him as warning.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero:
** He was like this at the start, making sexist and ableist jokes a lot, but starting 2009 he started to develop and call stuff like that out.
** The ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' reviews were less genuine analyzing of the flaws and more attacking the men for being "pansy", making rape jokes with the Chick and bringing up Joe's, Malachite's and Ma-Ti's ethnicities like they matter.
** In ''Film/TheShining'', he takes great joy in making Rachel hysterical, and chases down Malcolm with intent to kill him just because it's rule that BlackDudeDiesFirst.
** He's in unrepentant sexist asshole mode in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'', not allowing Tamara in his boys club, calling her worthless to her face, leaving her vulnerable to the reality monster, and when she kills it doesn't thank her.
** He shocks Film Brain in ''Forest Warrior'' by ''agreeing'' with Chuck Norris's homophobia, calling him misunderstood and the world has turned against him. (to clarify, Doug gets past this potential shitstorm with much SarcasmMode about how Creator/ChuckNorris is in a TransparentCloset, and Critic's meant to be an oblivious idiot)
** The Top 11 Best Avatar Episodes is a pretty good sum-up of his racist tendencies, with leaving Malcolm to die, his only insult to Dante calling him a "Filipino Benjamin Button", and confusing him with Dev Patel.
** In ''TMNT 2'', to make fun of Bay's misogyny, he tries to get Tamara to dress up like Harley, and when she refuses, replaces her with Aiyanna.
* {{Prematurely Bald}}ing: Lampshaded this, noting that he used to have a mop of hair back in high school. He promptly breaks down in tears.
* PrettyBoy: He and others certainly think so: he calls himself pretty rather than handsome in his ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' review, Spoony made him dress in drag and took pictures while raping him, the Chick went into bad touch land after chloroforming him, the Game Heroes had fun manhandling him while he was their DistressedDude and both Linkara and [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]] have fairly obvious crushes on him. The Wicked Witch in the first reboot commercial episode uses her "my pretty" line on him.
* PrimaDonnaDirector: Goes right back into MeanBoss mode with Rachel and Malcolm, and comes to a head when he demands Rachel to come back from California to shoot her punishment death scenes because he accidentally deleted the video. Thankfully, as she's now away from him she can say no and do things her way. And in the beginning of ''Film/TheShining'' review, he makes Rachel and Malcolm haul the heaviest props, and chipperly expects them to arrange them in order of his least and most favorites.
* PrincessPhase: Ironically, considering he hates the PrincessesRule trope, but he's said he wants to be like the Disney Princesses, keeps asking if he's pretty in a tiara over on Hotshot, and wants ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'' to treat him like Snow White.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: ''Turbo'' consists of him being one to the fans, while also insulting them. The power of his sappy speech about how the franchise was never meant for him is subverted in the ending theme song which has the line "this song is here to praise your heroes and suck up".
* ProneToTears: Luckily he mixes this with more {{Hotblooded}} tropes, but he breaks down in tears often for no reason. The ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' parody in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'' calls him a crybaby.
* ProperlyParanoid:
** He drives himself crazy trying to decipher the Nerd's "compliment", but when he's ready to give up and admit that the Nerd might be a nice guy, he finds the insult.
** When he's ready to snap and cry because he thinks he and his world is all Alec Baldwin's delusion, he's only a couple steps away from the truth.
** Played for sadness in "Why Do We Love Zombies", as a year after talking with his creator about him being a character (which was sweet, just went wrong a few months later), he comes to the conclusion that he can never really be safe.
* ProphetEyes: When he merges with the PlotHole in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, and used three more times in reboot title cards for FallenHero purposes. He's demonic in ''Master Of Disguise'', useless in ''The Last Airbender'', and just decaying in ''Why Do We Love Zombies''.
* ProudToBeAGeek: He calls himself enough of a dork to purchase the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' limited edition [=DVDs=].
* PsychoticSmirk: He spends most of "The Review Must Go On" with this.
** In ''The Purge'' title card. Another case of CoversAlwaysLie, as for once he's not actually the villain in an episode, [[spoiler: Film Brain is]].
** He has a very creepy one in ''Film/TheShining'' when Rachel turns into a HystericalWoman, enjoying her fear and doing whatever he can to make her more scared.
** He has one in the ''Transformers 4'' crossover when it turns out he rigged Erod's chair to electrocute him every time he tries to bring logic into the review.
** He looks a little too evil-happy in ''Fantastic Four'' when he learns he can summon explosions at will.
* PsychopathicManchild: He's like an angry twelve year old kid with a gun. During his Disneycember review, Doug says he took a lot of the character's "pathetic whiny brat in a grown person's body" part from the Red Queen in ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland''.
** The ''Pop Quiz Hotshot'' pilot has him gleefully taunting a contestant about to die, fake crying and even the host compliments him on his bloodlust.
** Taken to new heights in ''Disney Afternoon'' where he makes the studio look like his bedroom, pretends to be a kid coming home from school, dresses Malcolm and Tamara up in what a white boy thinks black kids and girls would wear, and gets violent if anyone tries to break his delusion. Even when he comes out for a while after being sad about nothing changing, he still goes right back to childlike at the end.
** In "Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel", he's in ControlFreak mode wanting a successful formula, and whips the D'aw Girls out of the room.
* PuppyDogEyes: Usually a side-effect of when he's really suffering, and not just because of bad movies. Turns into QuiveringEyes occaisonally.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:R]]
* RagingStiffie: The target of the odd joke or two.
* RaisedAsTheOppositeGender: He was raised as a girl for a short while in childhood and his identity issues are a bit of a RunningGag.
-->'''Critic''': Now granted I didn't grow up as a girl... for long. ''[looks embarrassed and about to cry]'' I have a history.
* RapeAsBackstory: On his prom night, even. Low blow. That trauma monkey plushie also raises a few questions.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: He's incredibly pale (he even disappears due to ''Film/CoolAsIce'' being far too white), and is at least meant to be attractive. The downside of this is that it makes it very obvious when Doug demonstrates his lack of familiarity with sunscreen.
* RealityWarper:
** [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that he's spending his time trying to learn how to transform himself into different things, not just being a muppet.]] By the Linkara cameo in December, he mostly seems to have got it to work.
** There's a few hints in the reboot that he still has this power, like at the end of "Top 11 South Park Episodes" where he changes into a ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' version of himself, or ''Film/AfterEarth'' where he brings out the muppet Critic from the PlotHole, or the numerous YourMindMakesItReal moments. Confirmed in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', where he has the power of "ruining", creating the PlotHole again (or a blue hole very similar to it) and making things go back to normal with no more SicklyGreenGlow, no more fetish gear, and everyone at least having a personality.
* ReallyGetsAround: Just not quite in the way he wants. This quality increased for insecurity reasons in 2012. In the PQH Star Wars edition, he's glad for "what happens on [], stays on []" rule.
* RealMenHateAffection: In his amnesia persona, he complains that TBF!Critic gets "too much" CharacterDevelopment, and is disgusted with him for telling the Chick how depressed he feels.
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses:
** [[{{inuniverse}} Believes]] in this pretty heavily. As an example, Princess Peach using a frying pan to knock out an enemy disgusts him. As another example, he calls the possessed person in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' with "no emotions, no feelings and no needs" the perfect woman. Although like Chick and Lindsay, this is just meant to be the character being an idiot and not Doug's real feelings on the subject. In Doug's own reviews of Disney movies, he even argues why leads like Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White aren't the feminist nightmares they're made out to be.
** His reason for hating the women in ''Film/PearlHarbor'' is that they giggle. Not what they're giggling about, not that they do it too much, not that they're {{flat character}}s, just hates them from the first laugh.
* RedemptionRejection:
** When Sage calls him out in ''The Guyver'' on having being an insulting [[invoked]] FanHater ever since his return, they argue and have an angry staredown, giving him ample opportunity to be a good person and apologize. But instead he walks out in a DownerEnding.
** Goes all out at the end of ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'', as Doug[[note]]And this was purely written by Doug for the DVD, no Rob involved.[[/note]] writes ''two'' {{hope spot}}s where Critic angsts about possibly being fixable but is completely unable to.
** At the end of ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'', Critic makes a move (with [[WebVideo/DemoReel familiar]] triumphant music) to understand that all artists can make good things, but then Burton lets him down again and he angrily says he forgot what he was supposed to have learned.
* RedOniBlueOni:
** Does this to himself. The Nostalgia Critic's the red oni, to the real life Doug Walker's blue oni.
** Nicely swapped round with Linkara in ''Star Trek Insurrection''. To perhaps show Critic has grown up a bit, he shouts very little and tries to be optimistic while Linkara spends a lot of time angry and yelling.
** He's the blue oni to Erod's red for the first half of the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, coming off as bored and jaded in comparison to the latter's more exaggerated hammy persona. At one point when Erod is ranting, he puts on headphones and listens to "Pig Power In The House". [[spoiler: this turns out to be BaitTheDog, as he shoots Bay when Erod can't, has evil electric powers and does an old-school bat credit card reaction]].
* ReducedToRatburgers: The reviewing variant. By ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', he's been reduced to wandering around in the snow and finding movies in trash-cans.
* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: Male version. Whenever someone else ([[DistressedDude Game Heroes]], [[BlackComedyRape Spoony]], [[FetishizedAbuser Chick]] etc.) makes him the victim.
** In the "Is Eyes Wide Shut Artsy Porn" [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/images/stories/front/neye.jpg title card]], he's shirtless, but hiding himself and looks terrified.
** In the executive-demanded music video at the beginning of ''Jem'', he's fine dancing in drag and making flirty poses, but when the camera starts to do some FemaleGaze he gets uncomfortable and twitchy.
* ReluctantPsycho: In "Top 11 New Halloween Classics", he describes the feeling quite succinctly as "imagine you're at the Mad Hatter's tea party, but you're tied to a chair and aren't allowed to leave". The priest in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'' notes that Critic isn't so much slipping in sanity, it's that he was always broken.
* RepressedMemories: From the review of ''Film/{{Hook}}'': "I have the same unquestioned repressed childhood memories that everyone has." {{beat}} "What?"
* TheRival: To WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, who really doesn't know why he hates him so much.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:S]]
* SadClown: Under all the jokes and snark, he's really quite depressed. He even takes it one step further by feeling insecure about his abilities for comedy.
** In particular, the Canada commercials jokes are not well-liked (especially the rape whistle one, as girls getting abused is more important than a "killjoy PSA") but in ''Film/ThePurge'' he said he made them because he was scared. "Battle Of The Commercials" had him clarify this even more.
** He literally says in ''Film/ChristmasWithTheKranks'' that he thought if he could make people laugh, they'd stop hurting him and it would fix things.
* SandInMyEyes: In ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', ''Why is Arthur Christmas a Masterpiece?'', ''The Looney Tunes Show - Good or Bad?'' and the ''E-Sults'' advertisement, his eyes are red and worn-out looking, a bit like he'd just been crying before filming. In no video is this addressed.
* SayMyName: "NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD!!!"
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Very often and typically for long periods of time.
* SecretlyWealthy: Sage is actually shocked when he sees it all come through. So much so that he offhandedly tells Critic to go jump off a cliff afterwards instead of using the MoreThanMindControl to his advantage.
* SecurityBlanket:
** The big monkey toy with a tie. Behind the scenes show it's always at the studio, the opening of WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot has him cling onto it while rocking back and forth, and Doug has talked before about how when you're mentally ill and in a panic, you can imbue stuffed animals as the only safety you have.
** Literally in the TMNT watching during the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, as he wraps himself in a pinkish purple duvet and is nearly crying with happiness. He also trails it along with him when they go back to the review.
* SelectiveObliviousness: In some ways he knows the Chick better than anyone, but he blinded himself to what she was doing in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' because he thought she had his UndyingLoyalty, he assumed she would feel the same pride that he did when he sat through a bad movie, and he views her as a lot tougher than she really is.
** Not just with Chick. He's pretty good with denial as a whole, like when he was complaining about his job for years but only sank into major depression when a director inadvertently made him realize his life was meaningless.
* SelfServingMemory:
** He remembered ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' as becoming a God when he just sat on his ass all day, and the titular crossovers as teaching Linkara, Chick, Phelous and [=LordKaT=] a lesson about going into his territory when in reality, he broke down in all of them and had to be comforted.
** He tells Shyamalan in ''Film/AfterEarth'' that he killed him twice, but that's not remotely true. Aang killed him in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' while Critic was useless, and the Devil sent him back to hell in ''Film/{{Devil}}'' while Critic was a DistressedDude about to get talent bended for the second time.
** Intentionally bullshit in his speech about ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'', with the camera zooming in while he talks about doing the film for us (when his face was literally on a hundred dollar bill twenty minutes ago) and then it cuts to him being upset because Malcolm is telling him that he didn't get money because the film's passé.
** Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012'' when he asks the analysts didn't he kill them both in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. He didn't actually ''kill'' them himself, he just drove them to suicide.
** In ''Scooby Doo 2'', he tells Roger-in-disguise that the first movie nearly killed him, when even flashbacks show the context that he tried to commit suicide from self loathing and that it was a TakingYouWithMe.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan:
** Sensitive Guy to the Other Guy's Manly Man.
** He also acted as the Sensitive Guy to WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's Manly Man in their crossover.
** He also has this dynamic with Snob, especially in ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' where he's nervous and guilty about what happened to Santa Christ and Snob is snarky and thrilled.
* SerialKiller: Technically, he is this, even if he's never called one InUniverse, as he has murdered numerous people over the years, from Dr. Bitch Spasms, to Lucky the Leprechaun, to the Madison family in ''Eight Crazy Nights'', to destroying entire planets with his love of Christmas.
* SeriouslyScruffy:
** In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', as he gets more stubbly as the review goes on. It's unclear whether the amount of work caused Doug to forget shaving again, or it was to parody Max's PermaStubble.
** In ''What You Never Knew About National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'', his clothes are askew and he hasn't shaved because he doesn't actually want to do a video and just wants to celebrate Christmas.
* SexGod: The idea that he's really good at oral (due to Doug's OralFixation with the Ask That Guy pipe and fellating joysticks as Critic, plus many other objects) was given a nod in The Last Angry Geek's Bad Future episode, as the site has been taken over and all he's allowed to do is give oral as a SexSlave.
* SexIsViolence:
** He looks suspiciously post-coital after he causes a mass explosion. And the chaos [[note]]he specifically calls it a "gangbang of your consciousness", making it even more obviously the trope[[/note]] of the "Pink Elephants On Parade" makes him exhaustedly ask "Was it good for you?".
** Also, ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' has him pawing That Sci-Fi Guy enough to raise some eyebrows. What makes it this trope is that three episodes before, Sci-Fi Guy killed him.
* SexyCoatFlashing: Done in his review of the Flinstones Movie, where he acts out Halle Berry trying to comfort the audience.
* SexSlave:
** In the BadFuture, he's not allowed to do anything but prostitute himself for Snob's pleasure.
** In ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'', he asks if he can vacation on Summerisle when he hears that he'd have no responsibilities other than to have sex, StayInTheKitchen and not talk to anyone.
** In her fourth vlog, Hyper blissfully wants to control and break down Critic's brain so he'd be in love with her. Malcolm admits that would be a possibility for him as well.
** In ''Film/The6thDay'', That Sci-Fi Guy accidentally creates a clone of the Critic, who has a 50% chance of being beamed back to original Critic's place and having to be this for him. ([[http://channelawesome.com/that-scifi-guy-the-6th-day/ And no we're not making that up.]])
** If you know VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns (where Malice comes from), there's a BlackComedy reference when she asks if he's escaped from the same asylum she did. The villain of the sequel owns an asylum and is a pimp to both girls and boys there, so on top of realizing/assuming Critic's mentally ill, she's also assuming he's a victim of that too.
* SexyStewardess: In the first DVD menu, he bizarrely (but not problematically) dresses up like a flight attendant who has a lot of skin showing.
* ShamelessSelfPromoter: He can't seem to stop himself, even when there's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs gun to his head]].
* ShowSomeLeg: In ''Shark Jumping'', she's his silent partner that he wants to pawn off, and he tells Beth and Tim that he did it to get her to leave him alone and that he hates her.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: He really wants to do a review with WebVideo/JesuOtaku in the ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal'' episode, and denies being attracted to him just because he's a guy who wants to do a crossover with a girl. (And then he turns into ShipperOnDeck for CR/Phelous.)
* SignatureHeadgear: His baseball cap. He's one of the few men over the age of twenty who can make it look cool.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Although he's an easily emotional, giggly kid himself, he's nearly never impressed with ThePowerOfLove, a lot of picks for his Top 11s are actually kinda sad and he has a big rant about believing in dreams in his ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'' review.
* SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids: No question that he likes the {{determinator}} kind of love, it's mushiness that he can't stand.
* SinisterSurveillance: He managed to get a camera into every site member's house, so he'll know when they're apparently trying to steal his spotlight.
* SirSwearsALot: The only episode where he didn't swear was in ''Follow That Bird'', which is very sweet.
* SissyVillain: He's a pathetic jackass, but not because he's "sissy". That's just part of his personality. In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he badass boasts that he's the Nostalgia Critic, he's the original movie basher and his face [[GloryDays used]] to be the site logo, but then ruins it by obsessing over wondering how Erod thinks he looks like Edward Norton.
** Really pronounced in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he's obsessed with how pretty he looks in a tiara, hits on most of the men and is accepting of how he's fucked up in the head.
* SitcomArchnemesis: [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd The Angry Video Game]] ''[[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd NEEEEEEEEEEEERD!!!]]''
* SkewedPriorities: He thinks child abuse, even the more minor stuff, is worse than rape. Done intentionally, as while the Critic complains about the ''Starchaser'' sexbot abuse scene as creepy for the kids, Doug rants on the commentary about the disgustingness of her character being forcibly changed from unwilling to slut.
** Confusing Kyle and Paw in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, he thinks bread stealing is worse than rape and murder. Doug in the bloopers doesn't go that far, but he does think that french bread is the best thing ever.
* SlouchOfVillainy: When Doug gives him the answer he wants in "The Review Must Go On".
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: CR made a pointed comparison to Critic and Baby-Doll from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', trying to get him to see that he'll end up as a WhiteDwarfStarlet if he keeps on stressing about people taking his job.
** More generally, and overlapping with CameBackWrong, the main StoryArc in the reboot. Sometimes it's played for BlackComedy, while at other times (like ''The Guyver'') it's played for angst, and episodes like ''The Shining'', it's there for horror.
* SmallNameBigEgo: No matter how many times it gets [[BreakTheHaughty beaten out of him]], he's an egotistical prick. What makes a little more interesting, though, is his self-esteem is pretty low and pathetically easy to break. ''Critic Tank'' (a ''WebVideo/SharkJumping'' episode) self-deprecates that he turned loving the sound of his own voice into an online empire, but can barely pay his rent on time.
** In the DVD review of ''The Review Must Go On'', he's firmly up his own ass, calling it an astounding achievement and knocking away any chart proof that it was pretentious and egotistical. This comes back at the end, lampshading that he's biased but calling it amazing before he gets a smackdown from Doug.
* SmartBall: Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure''. When he gives a too-well-reasoned argument about the Chick growing out of the site-planned GirlShowGhetto and doing her own thing, Chick meta-brags that what he's saying sounds like her writing.
* SmarterThanYouLook: He doesn't have a whole lot of faith in his intelligence, not helped by all the mistakes he makes, but he really is smarter than he seems.
* SoapboxSadie: Nobody can accuse of him of not genuinely caring about kids, racism or sexism (and if you have for the first one, what have you been watching?), but it's like he can only be OCD-like about one of those things an episode, while the rest get pushed to the side slightly.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: In Prime, he was never too lucky on who he was a LustObject to, but at least he was happy to be a sexually active MrFanservice. Not so much in reboot where all he wants is women he can humiliate, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Rogue figurines to give him handjobs]], and to stalk Emilia Clarke, but catwomen, men and witches get in his personal space, Rachel and Malcolm both grope him when he doesn't want them to and even Zod's threats are based on mutilating his looks until nobody recognizes him as human.
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Parodied when people accuse him of being an anti-groundite. He goes on to say they're hard-working, have feelings and some of his good friends are floors. His own floor then tries to shoot him.
** Real life example with ''Anime/SailorMoon'', as in Connecticon Doug mocked the people who didn't like the review with the fact that he's become friends with some of the cast.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Showcased in ''Film/TheRoom2003'' where he ends up shouting the "Dead Parrot Sketch" from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', and uses a quote from ''Creator/WilliamShakespeare'' seconds later.
* SoProudOfYou: Doug most likely knew that Lindsay didn't invent the concept of TheSmurfettePrinciple, but Critic acted like the Chick did.
* SoreLoser: When he loses the third match against [[WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe]], he's a whiny, angry brat who accuses Joe of cheating.
* TheSoulless: He lost it to Malcolm's devil in return for a good Zod impression.
* SpeechImpediment: He starts stammering when he's scared or nervous.
* SpeakOfTheDevil: He pops up in the Chick's review of ''Film/{{Transformers|2007}}'' when she says the word "manchildren". Also when Maven says the words "nostalgia nostalgia nostalgia" in her Count Chocula review.
* SplitPersonality: Done in the more realistic fashion. Three times now something bad has happened to really trigger him off, he'll react with intense distaste (HearingVoices with the ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' bullies, long {{angrish}} with how childish ''Film/TheHaunting1999'' was, exploding cities with ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'') and then he'll come back with apologies or would have to be made aware of what he just did.
* {{Squee}}:
** As the "Follow That Bird" review proved, he can go higher than a teenage girl when he's excited.
** He even squees the trope name in his review of ''Film/{{Alaska}}''. The image of him bouncing is a pretty popular reaction gif on tumblr.
** While it gets steadily darker in reboot, he always gets little boy excited over Christmas.
* StalkerWithACrush: In his teenage years, he broke up with someone three times.
-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': How many times can you break up with someone before they turn into a psycho and start stalking you? *looks around scared and whispers* Three.
** He himself approaches stalker territory when he first pretends to be Rasputin to have a conversation with the Chick and secondly hides in the bushes to capture her and make her watch ''Film/{{Bratz}}''. She finds the former endearingly annoying and doesn't seem to mind the latter, however, probably because she chloroformed him first.
** He's a fully fledged stalker to Emilia Clarke, having her number on speed-dial despite her hating him in the commercials special, and ignoring Joe in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' to look at naked pictures of her.
** In ''North'', he says he's familiar telling people to stop following him or he'll call the police.
* SteelEarDrums: Played straight most of the time and subverted once. All that shooting in close spaces doesn't affect him, but a girl's annoying voice pierces right through.
* StepfordSmiler: A mix of type C/type A.
** A good example of stepfordness is in the beginning of ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' video game where he's waking up in the morning. In Last Angry Geek's review of ''Spider-Man and the X-Men'', where Brian asks whatever happened to Dr. Smith and Critic (with a giant frozen smile) tells him "Cancer. Very sad.", and it cuts back to Brian mouthing "ouch". If it weren't for the much sadder take at the end (where he also reveals Dr. Smith was his father), one would assume LackOfEmpathy.
** The PsychopathicManchild version for the first half of ''Disney Afternoon'', especially when Malcolm is unconscious, he has blood on his hands and his response to Tamara wanting to take Malcolm to the hospital is a DissonantSerenity "it's too late for him". It's only when reality breaks in that he's still commenting on cartoons that he calms down, and even that is just sadder and more cynical.
* TheStoner:
** While he bears none of the character traits associated with the trope, he does make a few references. His plan for the 100th episode was to show a crummy clip show and smoke some pot. He's also on an ongoing search for "Pot Land" according to his review of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show''.
** When he sees Malcolm and Tamara in bunny ears, with guns and hiding behind the desk, he says he usually has to take something to see stuff like this.
** In ''The Sixth Day'' crossover, he asks how long it takes for a powdered horse scrotum to leave your system after you smoke it.
--->'''That Sci Fi Guy''': Um, I'm just gonna move on.
--->'''Critic''': Yeah, you better.
** In ''Iron Man's Coke'', he snorts some coke to calm himself down from getting annoyed that the challenge was done too fast.
* StrawmanEmotional: In his worst moments. The fact that he doesn't seem to even realize he can be like this makes it easier to stomach.
* StrawHypocrite: Goes into this territory a lot in reboot, like when he says "I'm not one to disagree with other's opinions, unless they're stupid and not mine", when nearly all of his (intended) FinaleSeason had him learning the opposite.
* StubbornMule: He calls himself a stubborn old curmudgeon in the "Willy Wonka" Old vs New.
* [[StupidSexyFlanders Stupid Sexy]] Creator/KeithDavid, Creator/HughJackman and Creator/WillSmith.
-->*slaps himself* BOOBS! YOU LIKE BOOBS!
* SurvivalMantra: Until the Burger King runs away in terror from ''Twister'', "elephant" serves as his call back to reality.
* SweetTooth: He downs an entire bag of candy in ''{{Creator/Nicktoons}}''.
* SympatheticPOV: It's his show, so we get to see him break down, fanboy, be a victim, be a jackass, be smart, be dumb... the works. If we knew him from [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain's]] POV for example, he wouldn't nearly be as likable.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:T]]
* TakeAThirdOption: When Spoony gives him a choice of reviewing the Creator/RebBrown's ''Film/{{Captain America|1979}}'' movie or letting the forced crossdressing pictures of Spooning With Spoony 2 leak out, he chooses a noose instead.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: When he didn't get promoted in his CrustyCaretaker job, we get to see Doug's video of that "I QUIT!" ShirtlessScene.
* TalkativeLoon: When he gets worked up.
* TheTease: An aesop that comes up every now and then is that he can be as slutty and attention seeking as he wants, doesn't mean he's not allowed to be traumatized by abusers like Spoony and Hyper.
* TestosteronePoisoning: Literally. He takes pills that he owns to make him sound like Kevin Conroy, and his voice drops much lower as well as his balls.
** He almost certainly was trying to invoke this at the beginning. Sexist, homophobic, a lower-pitched voice, still wasn't smart but had much more common sense, owned a HairTriggerTemper, slobby, easily bored and none of the femmy, childish behavior we know him for.
** Darker in ''Film/TheShining'', as right after admitting his dick both doesn't work anymore and is the only thing keeping him a man, he has a more masculine costume change, has zero patience for any talk of feelings, and acts like an abusive partner to Rachel.
** Realistically (especially for someone RaisedAsTheOppositeGender) in "Old vs New Cinderella'', as right after Devil Boner calls him full of estrogen and Hyper's "ladyfriend", he suddenly gets more concerned about his masculinity being undermined, when he was fine talking about "girl movies" before.
* ThatManIsDead: In the beginning of ''Forest Warrior'', he refuses to do the Creator/ChuckNorris RunningGag because that was the old him, and the new version needs to create new memes that he can be obnoxious about.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee-Critic complained because "everything [he does] has a negative impact on someone" and was desperate for a way to fix it. But his fixing got screwed over by The Review Must Go On making it a paradox, and reboot-Critic practically makes it his mission to hurt people. Sage calls him out on this, but Critic ignores him.
** For an example that happened in the same review, the realistic happens for the ''Master Of Disguise'' breakdown and he gets in trouble, but he lucidly punches Rachel in the gut at the end of the episode and leaves her on the ground, not caring [[DomesticAbuse what that must look like in context]].
* ThinkingTic: Has a tendency to pucker his mouth when he's thinking something over.
* ThousandYardStare: The BadFuture 2019 in Geek's ''Future's End'' episode gives the implication that he's in permanent about-to-cry mode. And he actually does when Snob shows up.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Santa Christ showing up to erase his memory of ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial''. And "Poor Critic" at the end of his Commercials Special has him getting his self-confidence back.
** In the ''[=NickComs=]'' episode, TemptingFate actually works in his favor for once and gives him ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete''.
** After being so deathly boring for the majority of time, ''Film/{{Junior}}'' gets funny and stupid with Arnold in a dress and spouting one-liners.
** ''Film/DoubleTeam'' more than satisfies him with the "BEST! DEATH! EVER!".
** After going through hell with Sequel Month, he gets to enjoy himself with ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons2000''.
** Considering how depressed he was that he couldn't muster up the courage to talk to the Chick during the failure date, their relationship becoming DatingCatwoman probably counts.
** [[spoiler: In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, his creator telling him how good of a character he became. Plus saving the world.]]
* TooDumbToLive: Plenty of instances. Examples include taunting Disney villains, tempting an angel to kick his ass and God to strike him down, trusting people he shouldn't and following the orders of Sage ''when he believes he's the devil''.
* TookALevelInBadass: In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee. Suicidal motivation aside, ''he stood up to Mechakara'' even when he was frustrated, terrified and being held at gunpoint.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Not a bad thing, but he wasn't always lacking in a lot of common sense.
** His IQ dropping since the intelligence of the PlotHole appearances has been lampshaded twice, with [[spoiler: Doug]] complaining that he's been written so stupid and it taking him twenty-two seconds to realize Sage calling him an airhead in the Guyver review.
** Again lampshaded in "The Dark Knight Returns", where he quips that Two-Face (who has two bombs, and wants 22 million dollars in the next 22 minutes) must really like the number "3". Last Angry Geek quietly corrects him. He also later confuses LAG for Linkara, and runs off at the end of the review.
* TookALevelInKindness: Steadily until WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, lampshaded by [[spoiler: Doug himself]]. But...
* TookALevelInJerkass[=/=]SanitySlippage: Things started to go wrong really quickly. There was "The Review Must Go On" where he gaslighted Doug, "An Odd Life Of Timothy Green" where he killed a cat, and both "Son Of The Mask" and "Food Fight" have him broken to a degree that the ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' breakdown can't reach. The "Master Of Disguise" review had SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome when he's forced to go an asylum for a freak out, then he went Jack Nicholson on Rachel during The Shining review, and it's just gotten worse from there. He's seriously injured Malcolm for ''extremely'' petty reasons, and outright MURDERED the Happy Maddison audience. He's reached a level of AxCrazy that is unprecedented by anything seen before. Perhaps taking him out of the plot hole WASN'T [[CameBackWrong the best idea.]]
** Lampshaded in ''Series/TheShining'', as when he's abusing Rachel on the phone, she snarks back that he's never been nice while she's known him.
** "The Dark Knight Returns" review intentionally contrasts his excited righteous happy post WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, with his smugly insulting, stupid, going-through-the-motions personality in current times.
** The SanitySlippage was lampshaded in ''Film/GhostDad'', where he says he can't talk about the twist because he already has fears about his mental health and doesn't want it to get worse.
** ''Disney Afternoon'' is all about him losing it. He desperately wants to recreate his childhood, even before violence happens he makes Tamara back off because he's so angry about her thinking he was talking about the Saturday morning version, and he's even more of a MoodSwinger than usual. It's only really when reality hits that "nothing's changed" and he's still stuck in a job commenting on cartoons that he moves into the more normal depression and not just being stepford psychotic.
** By ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRockyAndBullwinkle'', it's got to the point where other characters are forced to realize he was never really sane.
* TooKinkyToTorture: When he's parodying being a DistressedDude in the ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' review, he sounds less defiant and more excited about being electrocuted.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He has a rarely-mentioned obsession with breakfast cereal, which shows up in his cereal mascots review (obviously) and a crossover sketch with the Nostalgia Chick and The Maven of the Evantide.
* TragicHero: Tragically funny. He genuinely wants to be a NiceGuy or at least feel more optimistic about things, but he can never quite quell his temper. PlayedForDrama in ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' and WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee.
* TragicMonster: Gets so close to it in "Why Do We Love Zombies", as the ending has him as a zombie, the title card has him as a gored zombie, and there's a DespairSpeech about humanity being beaten out of him.
* TransparentCloset: The door will be opened and closed for RuleOfFunny and RuleOfCute. Sometimes he'll valiantly attempt to be all about the boobs, other times he'll fangirl guys without the slightest bit of regret. Lampshaded bitterly in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, where he, Paw and Kyle fall out of a closet and he says "enter coming out of the closet joke here".
* TraumaCongaLine: It is profoundly entertaining to see what horrible thing will happen to him next, either in the present or in his childhood.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The ''Guyver'' review makes a point of him not remembering WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}, WebVideo/SuburbanKnights or WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee as well as he should. Just what he's forgotten about remains to be seen. ''Bloodrayne'' has him not being able to remember the big fight in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
* TriggerHappy: This bites him in the ass twice; when he panics and shoots Santa Christ in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' and when he kills his childhood icon, Film/MaryPoppins, after ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''.
* TrophyWife: He wants to marry Malcolm and leech off his money in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', and he's for a moment okay with being Hyper's hostage boyfriend when he sees the inside of her BigFancyHouse.
* TroubledAbuser: He's horrible to Rachel, uses Malcolm and tries to break down Tamara, but there's something horribly wrong with him and he's been abused himself and still has issues over this.
* TroubledButCute: He's a slutty MrFanservice with an abusive past, stockholms for rapists and abusers, tries really hard to be good but can't make it (after he did in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, RealLifeWritesThePlot and did a {{retcon}}), is mentally ill, stuck in a job he hates and abuses others to make himself feel better.
* TroubledChild: "I had issues." Made explicit in "What Happened To Great Disney Villains", when he says he used to be like Sid in Toy Story.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: The first nod to his abusive childhood was him saying that he shot his Ninja Turtle doll.
* {{Tsundere}}: Showcased in pretty much the entirety of the "Follow That Bird" review.
-->'''Nostalgic Critic:''' Big Bird! Oh my god! He is just as big as I remember him! Some things never change when you're a chi- IT'S A MAN IN A COSTUME! ...A big...loveable...heartwarming costume...
** In ''Film/{{Alaska}}'' he switches between horror at polar bears eating people to fawning over the movie's animal lightning fast.
* TwitchyEye: Towards the end of his "lawyer tastes like deep-seated insecurity and bitterness" joke in ''Film/JurassicPark''. Only Doug knows why. Referenced in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' where he says "we all get nervous twitches like that sometimes". Quite understandably, his whole face is a twitching mess in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review when Joe is giving Zod ideas on how to torture him. When he's [[spoiler: hallucinating]] at the start of ''WesternAnimation/TheChristmasTree'' review, his eye jolts in time to his tapping of the coffee machine.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:U]]
* {{Uke}}: Even ''Chester'' lampshades the implications of "Nerd-On-Critic action". Not to mention that if he spends any time with a woman, it'll end up in MasculineGirlFeminineBoy. Also heavy with the Snob, as he's been the SexSlave in the BadFuture and Brad makes jokes about Critic being naughty and needing spanking from "daddy".
* UndyingLoyalty: As lampshaded by Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''. If he does actually care for someone, he'll cling on tight and do anything for them.
* UnfazedEveryman: Despite his cowardice, he's perfectly accepting of characters from the movies he's watching talking to him.
* UngratefulBastard: As a BecameTheirOwnAntithesis of his UndyingLoyalty in pre-reboot. He never thanks Rachel, Malcolm or Tamara for what they do for him, and he lampshades in Nerd's roast that while Nerd saved him twice in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, he still hates him because he has to.
* UnkemptBeauty:
** He looks much better with a rumpled suit and baseball cap than he does in 'proper' clothes.
** Defied in ''Film/TheShining'', as he wears a flannel shirt, no tie, is more beardy and loses his glasses, meaning he looks more masculine and people won't be distracted by the usual flattering clothes.
** Deconstructed in ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012'', where he realizes he's dressed the way he is to attract a female audience, and he's just as packaged as the new Onceler.
* UnreliableNarrator: Reboot has him having hallucinations, explicitly [[RealityWarper reality warping]] to fit what he wants and going through SanitySlippage far worse than anything previously, so suffice to say he's not always right about what goes on.
* TheUnsmile: The very beginning of "Top 12 Santa Clauses". He's genuinely excited, but can only grimace uncomfortably.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Maybe it's a good thing that he never wins, because when he does (and that's rare), he acts like a prick.
* UnstoppableRage:
** In response to the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', the Nostalgia Critic shoots the show so many times it literally goes up in a giant explosion.
** And then again for ''Film/BlankCheck''.
** For ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' he gets so angry that the movie keeps making shit up with absolutely no explanation that his anger destroys a town with a nuclear explosion. Then it happens again mere moments later when one of the characters makes a horrible Film/DirtyHarry pun.
** ''[[Film/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia The NeverEnding Story III]]'' certainly did piss off the NC to no end, but the last straw was, instead of the theme song to the series, they place Rockbiter singing "Born To Be Wild" during the motorcycle scene on the end credits. This sends the NC laughing all the way to Home Depot, buying a crowbar, coming home, and then mercilessly beating ''and raping'' the DVD to pieces.
-->''[[CaptainObvious I'm fucking the DVD! I'm fucking the DVD!]]''
** ''Film/TheMasterOfDisguise'' sends the NC laughing uncontrollably in reaction to its "a little wiener and some tiny nuts" joke to the point where it sounds like he's wheezing really hard before he goes outside and beats three people to near-death (including the cameraman) with a baseball bat.
** In ''Dragon's Lair'', he has a crying breakdown when [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything his happy ending gets ruined]].
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Not in the "was nice but is now evil" way, but the "hoped for far more than this" version.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:V]]
* VanityIsFeminine:
** He frantically paws at his face before running off to print out pictures of it in the photocopier. This is apparently his secret hobby.
** In Hyper's second vlog, he gets distracted from hating her by happily going on about how nice silk feels.
** In the ''WebVideo/SharkJumping'' review of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', the only thing that tempts him to do singing again (though he still refuses until the end) is being promised "fabulous costume changes".
* VerbalTic: The Critic has an extremely prevalent one that typically appears multiple times in the span of every single review. Once you notice it you'll hear it all the time. [[note]] It's "on top of that".[[/note]]
** He will almost always provide a summation of his review along the lines of "The <noun> is <adjective>, the <noun> is <adjective>, the <noun> is <adjective>... In short, it's an <adjective> <noun>."
* VillainProtagonist: There are a lot of signs that he CameBackWrong from the PlotHole, hitting kids, his reason for hating Creator/StephenKing downgraded to "he entertains people", and suggesting torture that even the devil is surprised by. Notably, in ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'', he refuses to help someone dying because he wants to get ranting about the movie off his back, and the camera follows him while keeping the said dying a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Chester. Critic steals Chester's drugs and lets him search for the necronomicon by himself while Chester is somewhat of an UngratefulBastard who will blow up cities just to upset Critic. However, Critic gave Chester a job, a safe place to stay and is the only one on the site to give him money, while Chester will be one of the first to defend Critic against anyone else.
* VocalEvolution: The Nostalgia Critic's voice was much more drawling and manlier in his earlier episodes with Doug's real Chicago accent coming through, with almost none of the high-pitched screaming and animated excitement he'd become known for.
** His Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger impression is improving as well. Impressions in his Schwarzenegger month videos are deeper than his earlier reviews, and pretty close to the real thing.
** His female voice got better too. In early reviews, it was just slightly more high-pitched than his child voice. In 2011 it sounded like a woman was talking.
*** Inverted too. Doug used to be able to do both the male and female sex noises in an especially porny episode of Ask That Guy and for a joke in ''Jaws 3''. But for the sex gag in ''8 Crazy Nights'' he had to get Rachel to do the female voice.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:W]]
* WalkingDisasterArea: Computers, stuffed animals and kitchen appliances have all blown him up or gone wrong in some way before he even managed to touch them.
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/TheShining'', where he wants a medal for ''not'' making racist pedophila jokes about the little boy and the black guy called Dick.
* WeakWilled: In the Top 11 Cereal Mascots, he goes out (twice) immediately to buy something because advertising told him to. And Devil!Sage manages to control him easily even after he's said he's not the devil.
* WeightWoe: As he gets thinner, he insults HollywoodPudgy actors more and more. Even WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob doesn't escape in the review of ''Film/{{Paranoia|2011}}''. In the ''Dragonbored'' review, he even bitches that Jimbroth (obviously played by Doug) is too doughy and could only bench-press two pounds at most.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Being the main character of of the site, everything bad in their world seems to happen to him most of the time (when it's not happening to Linkara). PlayedForLaughs in the ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' review, when a meteor occurs just outside the studio.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: He says the line to Lupa in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights and immediately regrets it, and Phelous says it to him in the ''Child's Play II'' review, putting him in the girl spot and all.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: It's great that you want the Chick to be proud of herself, but forcing her to watch ''Film/{{Bratz}}'' is kinda harsh.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: "Nostalgia Critic Talks Transformers 4" has the Critic/Chester friendship completely gone, with Critic knocking Chester out so he can have his rant, and when Chester buys into the pretty speech, Critic kicks him again showing what he's really like.
** One that isn't actually his fault for once, but Film Brain was his confidant in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but tries to kill Critic in the Purge review.
** Maven happily eats cereal with him in a crossover before he died, and had a skull with a baseball cap as remembrance for a while, but is completely disgusted with him a couple years later. For his part he calls her a prejudiced bitch when she forces him to leave.
** Discussed in ''Can An Ending Ruin A Film'', where he compares bad endings to a good friendship being over down to one bad decision.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Their prettiness is lampshaded by Lindsay in the ''Film/MoulinRouge'' review.
-->'''Lindsay''': Your eyes are so blue.
-->'''Doug''': I know, you just look at them and...
* WhenHeSmiles: Look at the top picture of the three Critics on his blip page. The first is him being goofy, the second is him looking angry while pointing a gun, and what does the third involve? A cute smile with his dimple showing.
** Played darkly at the end of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. First time he grins at all in the episode (as he spent it very dead-eyed and depressed) is when the Devil is proud of him for suggesting torture.
** Used for sad effect in ''The Dark Knight Returns'', as his first eyes-meeting genuine grin in ages is a CallForward comment about how deep and awesome WebVideo/DemoReel will be.
* WhiteMaleLead: He doesn't fit the description (you couldn't really view him as privileged other than having a fair amount of money and he's not overshadowing any minority), but he views himself as one.
** Played straighter in the reboot, as he gets the most airtime, often explains the obvious to the bad guys, and the black guy and woman are relegated to one-note characters on the side.
** In "Disney Afternoon", he forces Tamara and Malcolm to dress up like what he thought girls and black men wore in the nineties (hair decorations to the extreme and "ghetto" respectfully). They tell him instantly how wrong his perceptions are.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' review, as Malcolm asks why he gets the most focus seeing as how he's the least interesting of all the characters on the show.
* WhiteMansBurden: In ''Care Bears Nutcracker'', Malcolm tells Tamara he loves the WhiteGuilt movies (like ''Film/12YearsASlave'') because Critic tries to make up for his own racism by always taking him out for dinner after.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: On the TGWTG Vol. 1 DVD, he dresses up like an airline stewardess.
** Douchey has a picture of him wearing Creator/MarilynMonroe's dress, which Critic gets embarrassed by.
** He once dressed up as a female irish janitor and recorded things in the girls locker room.
-->'''Critic''': Why don't you just forget I said that?
** And there's ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', where he wears a ''very'' skimpy costume. [[InnocentFanserviceGuy Critic]] didn't know what he was doing, but Doug evidently did.
** When his early teenager self says "I like to wear women's clothing" and dresses up in a blonde wig, present!Critic's already high embarrassment goes through the roof. When his memory has been tampered with and he goes back to them, he calls 12 year old Doug in drag "a young man trying to work some things out".
** The cheerleading outfit in ''Christmas Story II'' was to prove a point (if a {{fanservice}} one), but the accompanying vlog has him put the mini-skirt to his waist and swing it around curiously. Hyper then interrupts, lunging at him and making him freak before the video cuts out. It also got spoilered in the "Carpet Diem" vlog, as the review aired a few days later and Doug says that because he's been in drag a million times and will be again, the fans mock him constantly and say he's Transgender.
** In his DVD review of ''Film/TheCinemaSnobMovie'', he dismisses a guy "having an interesting night-life" (with women's clothes) because dude hasn't got the hips for it.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' where Critic dismisses Tamara crossdressing because ''everyone'' crossdresses on the show.
** In the ''Princess Diaries II'' commentary, Doug reveals that when the characters were walking by the Jack Nicholson head, that was actually ''him'' with a pink dress shirt wrapped around his legs. Even Malcolm was impressed with how much his bottom half in pink looks like Anne Hathaway's legs.
** In ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', his immediate reaction to Beth being missing is to tell Tim to get in the Christine dress.
** Aside from the pink gear in the beginning of the ''Jem'' review, he eye-rolls at the girls complaining about having to try on dresses and having someone do your make-up because both those things are fun.
* WhosLaughingNow: He's ''killed'' people who bullied him about ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''.
* WickedCultured: He may have lost out on smarts, but he knows opera, theater, [[VanityIsFeminine how to take care of himself]], and has a fuckton of beautiful art in his house.
* WifeBasherBasher: Due to that scene in ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', he shoots the lead in ''Film/SingingInTheRain'' because he thinks he's a rapist.
** A bit more noble example occurs when he tries to shoot Lady Tremaine for her abuse of Cinderella.
* WindmillCrusader: As he so paranoidly put it...
-->'''Critic''': ''Hel-lo'' I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. But that hasn't stopped people from trying!
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: He was never great friends with sanity, but could always be relied upon (even if it took a while or a beating) to crash on the ground and do the right thing. Post-reboot however, he's got power learned from "The Review Must Go On" and WordOfGod has even apologized when Critic in ''Series/TheShining'' proved too scary for Rachel to handle.
* TheWonka: His number of issues are a mile long, but people follow him willingly and he's genuinely great at his job. Just don't tell him that last part or he might cry.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: He pouts pretty hard when he learns his temper tantrum destroyed a whole city in ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''.
* {{Workaholic}}: Doug being Doug, this creeps into Critic every now and then. Like in ''Film/GhostDad'', he says death is no excuse to stop working, or the GutPunch in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'', when the doctor says his [[spoiler: dying]] mom didn't want to bother him from his work.
** PlayedForLaughs in Linkara's ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' parody as the podcast believes he's just doing clipless reviews to work himself and Malcolm/Tamara to death.
* WorthyOpponent: WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd. He even says "You are indeed the most worthy adversary" during the second episode of the feud.
** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger is probably the only reoccurring person in his reviews that he can both make fun of and have affection for.
* WouldHurtAChild: He makes Evilina cry twice in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'', once by hitting her and yelling at her ''for'' crying, and in ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' he dances happily at the thought of a teenage girl getting whipped.
** In his review of ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' (2007), he points out how much Jesse has to put up with all the shit from the male bullies in his class, and after [[spoiler:Leslie dies]], the bully says a line so unforgivably insensitive towards Jesse's situation that sends the Critic off on a [[BerserkButton tangent]] where he feels it is totally {{Justified|Trope}} to strike that kid. Jesse immediately sends the bully reeling with a right hook when he returns to the review. He also spends an extortionate amount of time mocking Anna Sophia Robb's attractiveness for no reason, the nastiness of which he lampshaded next review in ''Film/TheShining''.
** After a fairly bittersweet FriendToAllChildren editorial on why you ''should'' lie to your kids about Santa, he reminds everyone of what he's now like by not caring that he made children cry.
** Played for stepford horror in Maven's "Monster Mash", as a "cute little girl" thought he was the Angry Video Game Nerd and he bludgeoned her to death.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'', where he shows you the one shot of a child's head exploding "because he has a sick obsession for violence that he should probably question more".
* WouldHitAGirl: Mostly The Nostalgia Chick. Naturally, she likes beating on him just as much.
** Although it seems he only does this with women who can give as good as they get. He's disgusted with ''Film/GoodBurger'' for Carmen Electra getting beaten up and having it played for laughs, which causes {{irony}} for later, as he hits Rachel and Tamara a lot and while Tamara will usually get her own back eventually, Rachel cried when he was scaring her and stayed down when he beats her outside.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Y]]
* YankTheDogsChain: Looking forward to ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'' theme at the end of ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia'', Critic? [[spoiler: How about a montage of the worst scene in the movie instead?]]
** When he starts to be sure that ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' has ended on an at-least-not-so-bad note, the movie proves him wrong. He doesn't take it well.
** He was on the verge of solving world hunger and cure all unknown diseases when ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' popped into his head and broke all concentration.
** After having an adorably fun time with the creators of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', he fucks up at the end because of an immature request.
** In ''Film/SimonSez'', when WebVideo/ObscurusLupa accepts him not wanting to do a crossover with her, he's almost heartbreakingly delighted that someone actually ''listened'' to him. Of course she's only messing around.
** At the end of ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' review, the "great spirits" let him know that he doesn't have to do Nostalgia-Ween anymore. What he has to do instead? ''WesternAnimation/Dougs1stMovie''. And not even that exchange was enough, as 2013 brought another Nostalgia-Ween that portrayed him as both a psychotically racist {{Domestic Abuse}}r and a depressed zombie.
** As soon as he says he doesn't want ''anything'' more to do with ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' after making it through without having to hear the dreaded theme song, guess what plays?
** He spends most of Star Trek month paranoid that Linkara will show up and nitpick in his usual way. When he thinks it's over and he's free, guess who shows up?
** The Critic is overjoyed that the next film he is going to review is ''The Avengers''. He [[Film/TheAvengers2012 thought]] it would be the Creator/JossWhedon project, not the film adaptation of the [[Film/TheAvengers1998 British spy series.]]
** Particularly painful for him is his happy ending in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee getting retconned into a paradox. Two years later and he's still bitter, even as he's forgetting details about what happened.
*** He was also ruling over an entire universe, but then as shown in ''Dawn Of The Commercials'', he had to go back to living with his abusive mother [[spoiler: until she died in ''Jurassic Park III'']].
* YaoiFanboy: He sees the HoYay in [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superman/Lex Luthor]], [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Frodo/Sam]], [[Series/AmericanIdol Simon Cowell/Ryan Seacrest]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman/Robin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}} Leonardo/Raphael]].
* YouthfulFreckles: Not on his face, but the rest of his body. Which is fitting for how many times he's taken his clothes off.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: As pathetic as he is and as pathetic as even the gun is (according to WordOfGod), you can't really say he doesn't leave an impact when he's genuinely pissed off.
[[/folder]]
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* NecktieLeash: Done more and more as times goes on, but averted in his review of ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''. They took it away so he wouldn't hang himself.
** In their battles, WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd had a [[FoeYay special]] fondness for pulling it for the sake of pulling it.
** Three words, given by Spoony: "ride the pony".
** The Game Heroes also pull his tie while forcing him to promote their t-shirts. Slightly unnecessary as he's also tied up, at gunpoint and clearly not going anywhere, but nobody's complaining.
** Even the fans join in the fun during the ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' credits, to punish him for his dislike of ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle''.
** Santa Christ in TookALevelInJerkass mode pulls it in ''Son Of The Mask'', with Rob saying later that moment is one of his favorites.
* NervousWreck: He's pretty easy to stress out.
* NeverBareheaded: He rarely takes off his hat on the show. Exceptions are his ''Batman and Robin'' review and his ''Series/SiskelAndEbert'' tribute.
* NeverBeHurtAgain: Along with the FriendlessBackground FreudianExcuse, the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' had him say three times that he had to kidnap people before they could capture him themselves (context: he's been a DistressedDude ''a lot'').
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: He's seriously upset when ''QuestForCamelot'' makes him kill innocent Disney characters.
* NeverMyFault:
** When ''WebVideo/DarkSideOfTheInternet'' ends with the aesop that people can't just act like nothing is wrong because cyberbullying keeps happening, he gets angry and complains that it's his right to dodge responsibility.
** While he might know it deep down (as he's the one who wanted Tamara to hurt him in the first place), he tortures and humiliates her and Malcolm whenever they try and get back at him for making them suffer originally, and never fully acknowledges the last part is why they try and hurt him back.
* NiceHat: His baseball cap. He's one of the few men over the age of twenty who can make it look cool.
* NightmareFetishist: His perfect ending for the Santa Claus movie (an awkwardly sweet piece of camp) would be that it was all a DyingDream caused by being out in a blizzard.
** What later causes Tamara to be hired in-universe; he realizes people find his pain sexy, and after she succeeds in her scheme to make him talk about the Bee Torture scene in ''Film/TheWickerMan'' and why it became a meme, he decides she's worth keeping around.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Who wants to know where he got that skull from and what he's actually drinking?
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: He could never resist a challenge from the Nerd, no matter how hard he'd got his ass beat the previous time.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He hates his audience for being sadistic, ungrateful pricks [[note]] note that Doug loves his fans[[/note]] but will put himself through an ungodly shitty film because they requested it all the time. This usually doesn't end well for him.
** Even though the Ghost Of Christmas Future has been an annoying, stalker-like bastard throughout the ''Film/BabesInToyland'' review, when the Critic sees that he's depressed, he acts very fatherly and comforting towards him. He then makes the mistake of letting the ghost choose what movie he should suffer through next, and the ghost ''immediately'' picks ''TheGrinch''.
* NonActionGuy: Even with his gun, whenever he gets into a fight, he mostly ends up on the ground or running off making girly whimpery noises.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: With the Chick. Seeing as how she's just as bad, she doesn't seem to mind too much.
** In ''Star Trek Insurrection'', he was close enough to That Sci-Fi Guy to look particularly molesty. Not to mention they were lying in bed together.
** With Tamara in the ''Disney Afternoon'' episode, who so doesn't enjoy it that she lets out a scream when he suddenly hugs her. It's up for debate whether he's too wrapped up in his cuckoo to notice, or is just doing it to make her feel vulnerable.
* NoSocialSkills
* NoSympathy: To girls sexually abused in Canada. He makes fun of the awareness psa in “Dawn Of The Commercials” for being a killjoy, repeats the joke in ''Film/ThePurge'' review saying it'd be unsafe to go there, and brings it up again in “Rise Of The Commercials”. The sexual abuse statistic is one in two girls by the way.
* NotDistractedByTheSexy: Although he's shown a lot of attraction to the Chick before, he's more annoyed that even she enjoys ''MoulinRouge'' than anything else. He doesn't even seem to notice that she's wearing burlesque.
* NotSoAboveItAll: At the end of his ''Film/LostInSpace'' review, he rants to the first appearance of Dr. Smith about nobody can trust him, but then he's easily manipulated and gets shot by his own gun.
** He calls out the Care Bears for falling for Christie's and Darkheart's trap, but her screaming breaks him down and he goes to help, getting bagged in the process. He can't resist their ThePowerOfLove moment either, and shouts out for Santa Christ.
* NotSoDifferent: There are an essay's worth of similarities between him and The Nostalgia Chick. Ask That Guy is also his EvilCounterpart.
** In his review of ''Bio-Dome'', the Critic screams "ASS!" to express rage - a trademark of [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd his rival.]]
** Oddly enough, his reboot self to the (fictional) head of TMZ. Both are loud, both are hypocrites, both abuse their underlings until they cry, both like crossdressing and act obnoxiously manly to compensate for any queerness, and both have a lot of WeightWoe issues.
** He and Hyper have actually a lot in common, like he snuck into a woman's bedroom, watched her sleep and it ended badly, while she snuck into his room and kidnapped him, but because she refuses to see his flaws (or that he doesn't want her in the first place), she doesn't go for that angle and tries to be OneOfTheBoys (also not bothering to get that he's more femme than that.)
** After fuming about the HotterAndSexier Onceler from ''Film/TheLorax'', he's upset to learn that he's been calculatingly marketed to cater to hipster fangirls too.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain:
** Shown in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' where he's willing to commit mass murder-suicide through dynamite if anyone threatened the power he'd finally managed to gain.
** Erod gets a reminder in the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, having electrocuted Critic onto his knees, but then when Critic's eyes are replaced with electricity (which then go to his hands), he says he forgot Critic has ambiguous CameBackWrong powers.
* NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat: In the ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'' review. Even Doug and Rob admitted soon after that the review was not one of their finest moments, and maybe it's not a coincidence that the Critic character started getting progressively girlier in later episodes.
* ObliviouslyEvil: Played with in reboot. He'll do something wrong, get called out, and then [[ThenLetMeBeEvil openly and maliciously continue doing the awful thing]]. Like ''Film/TheShining'', he treats Rachel and Malcolm terribly in the opening, is genuinely disappointed when they leave, but abuses her and tries to kill him when they come back.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Lampshaded when he's hitting on Catherine ''Zeta'' Jones. He tries to get with her by saying he's [[BlatantLies really eighty four]]. (He's really thirty+ but looks like a teenager with a beard.) In the ''Hocus Pocus'' behind the scenes, when he's shaving his beard off, Doug mentions that people think he looks younger without it and that's only because his “chipmunk cheeks” are more emphasized.
* OneNoteCook: He can only make cereal. Lampshaded in "Fuck Ups Part Three" where he notes he should probably spend more time in the kitchen and less time gobbling junk food.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: In the reboot he's almost refreshingly shameless about it, telling various women that they need to be exploited for views, bringing in a Dr. Hack so he can lazily stick to a formula while making loads of cash, and in ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', has literal money signs in his eyes when he realizes he can make a profit of getting on the bandwagon. [[spoiler: the last one ends up biting him in the ass.]]
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToInsultYou: When he [[InsultMisfire thinks]] Linkara is calling WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick a wussy, he tells him he's not allowed to insult her in that way.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Even disregarding angry {{cluster f bomb}}s, swearing is a fairly natural part of his vocabulary. So when he goes GoshdangItToHeck or doesn't swear at all, something's either gone very wrong or very right.
** If he thinks a child getting hit is funny rather than horrible, you'll know the child character is [[TheScrappy incredibly annoying.]]
** Speaking of children, he sold his soul in early reboot, which might explain not regretting hitting Evilina in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' and the pedophile jokes in ''Anime/SailorMoon''.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: When Doug did top elevens or tributes in the earlier days, he could never quite stop his real Chicago drawl coming through Critic's broad everyman accent. Luckily he eventually managed to hide it completely. (Except in bloopers obviously.)
* OralFixation: That joystick can't have tasted all that nice. Exaggerated in ''Critic Tank'' when he's a judge openly pushing and pulling the pen into and out of his mouth.
* OutOfCharacterMoment: In the middle bit of ''Film/{{Airborne}}'', he comes across (unintentionally) as a bit of a HeteronormativeCrusader who thinks the lead isn't a proper man because he wants to be a pacifist and not fight. He gets out of it near the end, but it was a weird period for a SissyVillain who hates morals of "solve problems by fighting".
** In the ''Film/TankGirl'' review, he freaks over a possibly horny woman director wanting a ShirtlessScene for a man. He never acted like that before, he's never acted like that again and he's even made much use of the FemaleGaze himself.
** In the ''Child's Play II'' review; "Yeah, when you're going to tie up a child, do it for the same reason I would. To beat him." Because that sounds like the guy who invokes GodwinsLaw on [[BebesKids someone who is an asshole to their kids and then leaves them]].
** When Soulless is pressuring him with an AnnoyingLaugh and everyone is waiting for him to come out with it and praise Jim Carrey in ''Film/TheGrinch'', he acts more like a ShrinkingViolet than usual HotBlooded, hiding his face while begging it to stop and only raising his voice once. Considering his lack of soul at this point, it makes sense.
** “Top 11 GOOD Things from the Star Wars Prequels” is one of those editorials where it can't be considered as anything but Doug instead of Critic talking, as it's all about appreciating the good bits in something considered bad, even Malcolm has expressed discomfort on how much Critic can dig his claws into actors, and while one of the spots was less Jar Jar as the movies went on, it was only a week ago that Critic had bombed the creature in an act of crazy.
** Although Doug defended it (and then pushed the thread into CanonDiscontinuity), his conclusion in ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' that men can't and have no idea when they're getting hit on doesn't match at all with his history (Spoony, prom night, the massive amounts of HomoeroticSubtext and ShipTease with nearly every producer) or his future (the Hyper Fangirl storyline where he hates her for always ignoring him when he says no).
* PapaWolf: Even if he thinks the kid's a BrattyHalfPint, treat a child badly or don't take responsibility, and Critic will '''hate''' you.
* PetTheDog:
** Because making fun of Lupa's death threats would just make Doug look terrible, Critic is a lot kinder to the ''WebVideo/DarkSideOfTheInternet'' than the other 5th year segments, and outright says after her part that he can't find anything to make fun of. It's also the only one he calls flawless.
** After a long while of treating them terribly, he's glad that Malcolm and Tamara are smiling for a change at the end of ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' and agrees to go out for a drink with them.
* ThePerfectionist: One of his major problems is that he always expects too much out of everything and so sets himself up for disappointment.
* PersonaNonGrata: In his review of ''Film/Jaws3D'', NC states that due to an [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} incident]], he can never go back to Nevada.
* PersonOfMassDestruction:
** In his ''QuestForCamelot'' review, he got so angry with the movie for not explaining anything that he accidentally caused a massive explosion that destroyed an entire city. ''Twice''.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', his Christmas obsession destroys the world. Mixed with RealityWarper again as he casually tells Tamara he'll make it non-canon.
* PerverseSexualLust: For Catherine Zeta Jones, as we find out in his [[TopTen Top]] [[UpToEleven 11]] [[VillainSong Villain Songs]] video. It's an inverted example as the Critic is a fictional character while Catherine Zeta Jones is a real life actress.
* PingPongNaivete: His intelligence and competence will vary depending on who he's with and if it's funny for him to be stupid or not.
* PinkMeansFeminine: His bedroom has pink curtains. Amusingly, the first time we saw them was when he was writing in his diary like a teenage girl in the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' review.
* PlayingWithFire: When reviewing the "Top 11 Avatar episodes" he learns to firebend. [[spoiler:Unlike the powerful blasts Dante Basco shot, Critic was firing Mario-like fireballs]]. Firebending was also what he tried in “Top 11 Adult Jokes We Never Got As Kids”. He failed there too, blowing up the guy overseeing him by accident.
* PleaseIWillDoAnything: Quite frequently. He did it when ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' were going to sing another song, when he was made to review the Star Wars Holiday Special and even though it wasn't begging, he did say he would give Devil Sage everything if he took his memories of Sequel Month away. By Hyper's 2015 Midwest Media Expo vlog, he's exhausted enough of this AbhorrentAdmirer storyline to ask even if he did whatever she wanted would she leave him alone. When she says no, he pretends to be into her until he gets the chance to push her out of a window.
* PlotArmor: Notable in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', where he {{dope slap}}s a woman who has killed three people for much less and just gets away with her being pissed off at him and holding her knife to him as warning.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: The ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' reviews were less genuine analyzing of the flaws and more attacking the men for being "pansy", making rape jokes with the Chick and bringing up Joe's, Malachite's and Ma-Ti's ethnicities like they matter.
** In ''Film/TheShining'', he takes great joy in making Rachel hysterical, and chases down Malcolm with intent to kill him just because it's rule that BlackDudeDiesFirst.
** He's in unrepentant sexist asshole mode in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'', not allowing Tamara in his boys club, calling her worthless to her face, leaving her vulnerable to the reality monster, and when she kills it doesn't thank her.
** He shocks Film Brain in ''Forest Warrior'' by ''agreeing'' with Chuck Norris's homophobia, calling him misunderstood and the world has turned against him. (to clarify, Doug gets past this potential shitstorm with much SarcasmMode about how Creator/ChuckNorris is in a TransparentCloset, and Critic's meant to be an oblivious idiot)
** The Top 11 Best Avatar Episodes is a pretty good sum-up of his racist tendencies, with leaving Malcolm to die, his only insult to Dante calling him a “Filipino Benjamin Button”, and confusing him with Dev Patel.
* {{Prematurely Bald}}ing: Lampshaded this, noting that he used to have a mop of hair back in high school. He promptly breaks down in tears.
* PrettyBoy: He and others certainly think so: he calls himself pretty rather than handsome in his ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' review, Spoony made him dress in drag and took pictures while raping him, the Chick went into bad touch land after chloroforming him, the Game Heroes had fun manhandling him while he was their DistressedDude and both Linkara and [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]] have fairly obvious crushes on him. The Wicked Witch in the first reboot commercial episode uses her "my pretty" line on him.
* PrimaDonnaDirector: Goes right back into MeanBoss mode with Rachel and Malcolm, and comes to a head when he demands Rachel to come back from California to shoot her [[{{Mcleaned}} punishment death scenes]] because he accidentally deleted the video. Thankfully, as she's now away from him she can say no and do things her way. And in the beginning of ''Film/TheShining'' review, he makes Rachel and Malcolm haul the heaviest props, and chipperly expects them to arrange them in order of his least and most favorites.
* ProfessionalButtKisser: ''Turbo'' consists of him being one to the fans, while also insulting them. The power of his sappy speech about how the franchise was never meant for him is subverted in the ending theme song which has the line "this song is here to praise your heroes and suck up".
* ProperlyParanoid: He drives himself crazy trying to decipher the Nerd's "compliment", but when he's ready to give up and admit that the Nerd might be a nice guy, he finds the insult.
** When he's ready to snap and cry because he thinks he and his world is all Alec Baldwin's delusion, he's only a couple steps away from the truth.
** Played for sadness in “Why Do We Love Zombies”, as a year after talking with his creator about him being a character (which was sweet, just went wrong a few months later), he comes to the conclusion that he can never really be safe.
* ProphetEyes: When he merges with the PlotHole in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, and used three more times in reboot title cards for FallenHero purposes. He's demonic in ''Master Of Disguise'', useless in ''The Last Airbender'', and just decaying in ''Why Do We Love Zombies''.
* ProudToBeAGeek: He calls himself enough of a dork to purchase the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' limited edition [=DVDs=].
* PsychoticSmirk: He spends most of “The Review Must Go On” with this.
** In ''The Purge'' title card. Another case of CoversAlwaysLie, as for once he's not actually the villain in an episode, [[spoiler: Film Brain is]].
** He has a very creepy one in ''Film/TheShining'' when Rachel turns into a HystericalWoman, enjoying her fear and doing whatever he can to make her more scared.
** He has one in the ''Transformers 4'' crossover when it turns out he rigged Erod's chair to electrocute him every time he tries to bring logic into the review.
** He looks a little too evil-happy in ''Fantastic Four'' when he learns he can summon explosions at will.
* PsychopathicManchild: He's like a twelve year old kid with a gun. During his Disneycember review, Doug says he took a lot of the character's "pathetic whiny brat in a grown person's body" part from the Red Queen in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''.
** The ''Pop Quiz Hotshot'' pilot has him gleefully taunting a contestant about to die, fake crying and even the host compliments him on his bloodlust.
** Taken to new heights in ''Disney Afternoon'' where he makes the studio look like his bedroom, pretends to be a kid coming home from school, dresses Malcolm and Tamara up in what a white boy thinks black kids and girls would wear, and gets violent if anyone tries to break his delusion. Even when he comes out for a while after being sad about nothing changing, he still goes right back to childlike at the end.
* PuppyDogEyes: Usually a side-effect of when he's really suffering, and not just because of bad movies. Turns into QuiveringEyes occaisonally.
* RagingStiffie: The target of the odd joke or two.
* RaisedAsTheOppositeGender: He was raised as a girl for a short while in childhood and his identity issues are a bit of a RunningGag. He also cries literally in his first commercials special that he's not a man, which even if you take as just thinking he's too pathetic, is still pretty relatable to people with gender issues.
-->'''Critic''': Now granted I didn't grow up as a girl... for long. *looks embarrassed and about to cry* I have a history.
* RaisedCatholic: Quite conservatively so, which provides a good excuse for his moments of uncertainty as to if being gay is a choice or not.
* RapeAsBackstory: On his prom night, even. Low blow. That trauma monkey plushie also raises a few questions.
* RavenHairIvorySkin: He's incredibly pale (he even disappears due to ''Film/CoolAsIce'' being far too white), and is at least meant to be attractive. The downside of this is that it makes it very obvious when Doug demonstrates his lack of familiarity with sunscreen.
* RealityWarper: [[spoiler: WordOfGod is that he's spending his time trying to learn how to transform himself into different things, not just being a muppet.]] By the Linkara cameo in December, he mostly seems to have got it to work.
** There's a few hints in the reboot that he still has this power, like at the end of “Top 11 South Park Episodes” where he changes into a SouthPark version of himself, or ''Film/AfterEarth'' where he brings out the muppet Critic from the PlotHole, or the numerous YourMindMakesItReal moments. Confirmed in ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', where he has the power of “ruining”, creating the PlotHole again (or a blue hole very similar to it) and making things go back to normal with no more SicklyGreenGlow, no more fetish gear, and everyone at least having a personality.
* ReallyGetsAround: Just not quite in the way he wants. This quality increased for insecurity reasons in 2012.
* RealMenHateAffection: In his amnesia persona, he complains that TBF!Critic gets "too much" CharacterDevelopment, and is disgusted with him for telling the Chick how depressed he feels.
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: [[{{in-universe}} Believes]] in this pretty heavily. As an example, Princess Peach using a frying pan to knock out an enemy disgusts him. As another example, he calls the possessed person in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' with "no emotions, no feelings and no needs" the perfect woman. Although like Chick and Lindsay, this is just meant to be the character being an idiot and not Doug's real feelings on the subject. In Doug's own reviews of Disney movies, he even argues why leads like Ariel, Cinderella and Snow White aren't the feminist nightmares they're made out to be.
** His reason for hating the women in ''PearlHarbor'' is that they giggle. Not what they're giggling about, not that they do it too much, not that they're {{flat character}}s, just hates them from the first laugh.
* RedemptionRejection:
** When Sage calls him out in ''The Guyver'' on having being an insulting [[invoked]] FanHater ever since his return, they argue and have an angry staredown, giving him ample opportunity to be a good person and apologize. But instead he walks out in a DownerEnding.
** Goes all out at the end of ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'', as Doug [[note]]and this was purely written by Doug for the DVD, no Rob involved[[/note]] writes ''two'' {{hope spot}}s where Critic angsts about possibly being fixable but is completely unable to.
** At the end of ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', Critic makes a move (with [[WebVideo/DemoReel familiar]] triumphant music) to understand that all artists can make good things, but then Burton lets him down again and he angrily says he forgot what he was supposed to have learned.
* RedOniBlueOni:
** Does this to himself. The Nostalgia Critic's the red oni, to the real life Doug Walker's blue oni.
** Nicely swapped round with Linkara in ''Star Trek Insurrection''. To perhaps show Critic has grown up a bit, he shouts very little and tries to be optimistic while Linkara spends a lot of time angry and yelling.
** He's the blue oni to Erod's red for the first half of the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, coming off as bored and jaded in comparison to the latter's more exaggerated hammy persona. At one point when Erod is ranting, he puts on headphones and listens to “Pig Power In The House”. [[spoiler: this turns out to be BaitTheDog, as he shoots Bay when Erod can't, has evil electric powers and does an old-school bat credit card reaction]].
* ReducedToRatburgers: The reviewing variant. By ''SonOfTheMask'', he's been reduced to wandering around in the snow and finding movies in trash-cans.
* [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl Reluctant Fanservice Boy]]: Whenever someone else ([[DistressedDude Game Heroes]], [[BlackComedyRape Spoony]], [[BastardGirlfriend Chick]] etc.) makes him the victim.
** In the “Is Eyes Wide Shut Artsy Porn” [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/images/stories/front/neye.jpg title card]], he's shirtless, but hiding himself and looks terrified.
** In the executive-demanded music video at the beginning of ''Jem'', he's fine dancing in drag and making flirty poses, but when the camera starts to do some FemaleGaze he gets uncomfortable and twitchy.
* ReluctantPsycho: In “Top 11 New Halloween Classics”, he describes the feeling quite succinctly as “imagine you're at the Mad Hatter's tea party, but you're tied to a chair and aren't allowed to leave”.
* RepressedMemories: From the review of ''Film/{{Hook}}'': "I have the same unquestioned repressed childhood memories that everyone has." {{beat}} "What?"
* TheRival: To WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd, who really doesn't know why he hates him so much.
* SadClown: Under all the jokes and snark, he's really quite depressed. He even takes it one step further by feeling insecure about his abilities for comedy.
* SandInMyEyes: In ''RomeoAndJuliet'', ''Why is Arthur Christmas a Masterpiece?'', ''The Looney Tunes Show - Good or Bad?'' and the ''E-Sults'' advertisement, his eyes are red and worn-out looking, a bit like he'd just been crying before filming. In no video is this addressed.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Very often and typically for long periods of time.
* SecretlyWealthy: Sage is actually shocked when he sees it all come through. So much so that he offhandedly tells Critic to go jump off a cliff afterwards instead of using the MoreThanMindControl to his advantage.
* SecurityBlanket:
** The big monkey toy with a tie. Behind the scenes show it's always at the studio, the opening of WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot has him cling onto it while rocking back and forth, and Doug has talked before about how when you're mentally ill and in a panic, you can imbue stuffed animals as the only safety you have.
** Literally in the TMNT watching during the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, as he wraps himself in a pinkish purple duvet and is nearly crying with happiness. He also trails it along with him when they go back to the review.
* SelectiveObliviousness: In some ways he knows the Chick better than anyone, but he blinded himself to what she was doing in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' because he thought she had his UndyingLoyalty, he assumed she would feel the same pride that he did when he sat through a bad movie, and he views her as a lot tougher than she really is.
** Not just with Chick. He's pretty good with denial as a whole, like when he was complaining about his job for years but only sank into major depression when a director inadvertently made him realize his life was meaningless.
* SelfServingMemory: He remembered ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' as becoming a God when he just sat on his ass all day, and the titular crossovers as teaching Linkara, Chick, Phelous and LordKat a lesson about going into his territory when in reality, he broke down in all of them and had to be comforted.
** He tells Shyamalan in ''Film/AfterEarth'' that he killed him twice, but that's not remotely true. Aang killed him in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' while Critic was useless, and the Devil sent him back to hell in ''{{Devil}}'' while Critic was a DistressedDude about to get talent bended for the second time.
** Intentionally bullshit in his speech about ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'', with the camera zooming in while he talks about doing the film for us (when his face was literally on a hundred dollar bill twenty minutes ago) and then it cuts to him being upset because Malcolm is telling him that he didn't get money because the film's passé.
** Inverted in ''Film/TheLorax'' when he asks the analysts didn't he kill them both in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. He didn't actually ''kill'' them himself, he just drove them to suicide.
** In ''Scooby Doo 2'', he tells Roger-in-disguise that the first movie nearly killed him, when even flashbacks show the context that he tried to commit suicide from self loathing and that it was a TakingYouWithMe.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan:
** Sensitive Guy to the Other Guy's Manly Man.
** He also acted as the Sensitive Guy to WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd's Manly Man in their crossover.
** He also has this dynamic with Snob, especially in ''Film/PassionOfTheChrist'' where he's nervous and guilty about what happened to Santa Christ and Snob is snarky and thrilled.
* SeriouslyScruffy:
** In ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', as he gets more stubbly as the review goes on. It's unclear whether the amount of work caused Doug to forget shaving again, or it was to parody Max's PermaStubble.
** In ''What You Never Knew About National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'', his clothes are askew and he hasn't shaved because he doesn't actually want to do a video and just wants to celebrate Christmas.
* SexGod: The idea that he's really good at oral (due to Doug's OralFixation with the Ask That Guy pipe and fellating joysticks as Critic, plus many other objects) was given a nod in The Last Angry Geek's Bad Future episode, as the site has been taken over and all he's allowed to do is give oral as a SexSlave.
* SexIsViolence: He looks suspiciously post-coital after he causes a mass explosion. And the chaos [[note]]he specifically calls it a "gangbang of your consciousness", making it even more obviously the trope[[/note]] of the "Pink Elephants On Parade" makes him exhaustedly ask "Was it good for you?".
** Also, ''Star Trek Insurrection'' has him pawing That Sci-Fi Guy enough to raise some eyebrows. What makes it this trope is that three episodes before, Sci-Fi Guy killed him.
* SexyCoatFlashing: Done in his review of the Flinstones Movie, where he acts out Halle Berry trying to comfort the audience.
* SexSlave:
** In the BadFuture, he's not allowed to do anything but prostitute himself for Snob's pleasure.
** In ''Film/TheWickerMan'', he asks if he can vacation on Summerisle when he hears that he'd have no responsibilities other than to have sex, StayInTheKitchen and not talk to anyone.
** In her fourth vlog, Hyper blissfully wants to control and break down Critic's brain so he'd be in love with her. Malcolm admits that would be a possibility for him as well.
** In ''The Sixth Day'', That Sci-Fi Guy accidentally creates a clone of the Critic, who has a 50% chance of being beamed back to original Critic's place and having to be this for him. ([[http://channelawesome.com/that-scifi-guy-the-6th-day/ And no we're not making that up.]])
** If you know VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns (where Malice comes from), there's a BlackComedy reference when she asks if he's escaped from the same asylum she did. The villain of the sequel owns an asylum and is a pimp to both girls and boys there, so on top of realizing/assuming Critic's mentally ill, she's also assuming he's a victim of that too.
* SexyStewardess: In the first DVD menu, he bizarrely (but not problematically) dresses up like a flight attendant who has a lot of skin showing.
* ShamelessSelfPromoter: He can't seem to stop himself, even when there's a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs gun to his head]].
* ShowSomeLeg: In ''Shark Jumping'', she's his silent partner that he wants to pawn off, and he tells Beth and Tim that he did it to get her to leave him alone and that he hates her.
* [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend He Is Not My Girlfriend]]: He really wants to do a review with WebVideo/JesuOtaku in the ''Film/HeavyMetal'' episode, and denies being attracted to him just because he's a guy who wants to do a crossover with a girl. (And then he turns into ShipperOnDeck for CR/Phelous.)
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: Although he's an easily emotional, giggly kid himself, he's nearly never impressed with ThePowerOfLove, a lot of picks for his Top 11s are actually kinda sad and he has a big rant about believing in dreams in his ''ATrollInCentralPark'' review.
* SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids: No question that he likes the {{determinator}} kind of love, it's mushiness that he can't stand.
* SinisterSurveillance: He managed to get a camera into every site member's house, so he'll know when they're apparently trying to steal his spotlight.
* SirSwearsALot: The only episode where he didn't swear was in ''Follow That Bird'', which is very sweet.
* SissyVillain: Although not with the usual UnfortunateImplications. He's a pathetic jackass, but not because he's "sissy". That's just part of his personality. In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he badass boasts that he's the Nostalgia Critic, he's the original movie basher and his face [[GloryDays used]] to be the site logo, but then ruins it by obsessing over wondering how Erod thinks he looks like Edward Norton.
** Really pronounced in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he's obsessed with how pretty he looks in a tiara, hits on most of the men and is accepting of how he's fucked up in the head.
* SitcomArchnemesis: [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd The Angry Video Game]] ''[[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd NEEEEEEEEEEEERD!!!]]''
* SkewedPriorities: He thinks child abuse, even the more minor stuff, is worse than rape. Done intentionally, as while the Critic complains about the ''Starchaser'' sexbot abuse scene as creepy for the kids, Doug rants on the commentary about the disgustingness of her character being forcibly changed from unwilling to slut.
** Confusing Kyle and Paw in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, he thinks bread stealing is worse than rape and murder. Doug in the bloopers doesn't go that far, but he does think that french bread is the best thing ever.
* SlouchOfVillainy: When Doug gives him the answer he wants in “The Review Must Go On”.
* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: CR made a pointed comparison to Critic and Baby-Doll from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', trying to get him to see that he'll end up as a WhiteDwarfStarlet if he keeps on stressing about people taking his job.
** More generally, and overlapping with CameBackWrong, the main StoryArc in the reboot. Sometimes it's played for BlackComedy, while at other times (like ''The Guyver'') it's played for angst, and episodes like ''The Shining'', it's there for horror.
* SmallNameBigEgo: No matter how many times it gets [[BreakTheHaughty beaten out of him]], he's an egotistical prick. What makes a little more interesting, though, is his self-esteem is pretty low and pathetically easy to break. ''Critic Tank'' (a ''WebVideo/SharkJumping'' episode) self-deprecates that he turned loving the sound of his own voice into an online empire, but can barely pay his rent on time.
** In the DVD review of ''The Review Must Go On'', he's firmly up his own ass, calling it an astounding achievement and knocking away any chart proof that it was pretentious and egotistical. This comes back at the end, lampshading that he's biased but calling it amazing before he gets a smackdown from Doug.
* SmartBall: Invoked in ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure''. When he gives a too-well-reasoned argument about the Chick growing out of the site-planned GirlShowGhetto and doing her own thing, Chick meta-brags that what he's saying sounds like her writing.
* SmarterThanYouLook: He doesn't have a whole lot of faith in his intelligence, not helped by all the mistakes he makes, but he really is smarter than he seems.
* SoapboxSadie: Nobody can accuse of him of not genuinely caring about kids, racism or sexism (and if you have for the first one, what have you been watching?), but it's like he can only be OCD-like about one of those things an episode, while the rest get pushed to the side slightly.
* SoBeautifulItsACurse: In Prime, he was never too lucky on who he was a LustObject to, but at least he was happy to be a sexually active MrFanservice. Not so much in reboot where all he wants is women he can humiliate, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick Rogue figurines to give him handjobs]], and to stalk Emilia Clarke, but catwomen, men and witches get in his personal space, Rachel and Malcolm both grope him when he doesn't want them to and even Zod's threats are based on mutilating his looks until nobody recognizes him as human.
* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Parodied when people accuse him of being an anti-groundite. He goes on to say they're hard-working, have feelings and some of his good friends are floors. His own floor then tries to shoot him.
* SophisticatedAsHell: Showcased in ''Film/TheRoom'' where he ends up shouting the "Dead Parrot Sketch" from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', and uses a quote from ''Creator/WilliamShakespeare'' seconds later.
* SoProudOfYou: Doug most likely knew that Lindsay didn't invent the concept of TheSmurfettePrinciple, but Critic acted like the Chick did.
* SoreLoser: When he loses the third match against [[WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe]], he's a whiny, angry brat who accuses Joe of cheating.
* TheSoulless: He lost it to Malcolm's devil in return for a good Zod impression.
* SpeechImpediment: He starts stammering when he's scared or nervous.
* SpeakOfTheDevil: He pops up in the Chick's review of ''{{Transformers}}'' when she says the word "manchildren". Also when Maven says the words "nostalgia nostalgia nostalgia" in her Count Chocula review.
* SplitPersonality: Done in the more realistic fashion. Three times now something bad has happened to really trigger him off, he'll react with intense distaste (HearingVoices with the ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' bullies, long {{angrish}} with how childish ''TheHaunting'' remake was, exploding cities with ''QuestForCamelot'') and then he'll come back with apologies or would have to be made aware of what he just did.
* {{Squee}}:
** As the "Follow That Bird" review proved, [[UpToEleven he can go higher than a teenage girl]] when he's excited.
** He even squees the trope name in his review of ''Film/{{Alaska}}''.
** While it gets steadily darker in reboot, he always gets little boy excited over Christmas.
* StalkerWithACrush: In his teenage years, he broke up with someone three times.
-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': How many times can you break up with someone before they turn into a psycho and start stalking you? *looks around scared and whispers* Three.
** He himself approaches stalker territory when he first pretends to be Rasputin to have a conversation with the Chick and secondly hides in the bushes to capture her and make her watch ''{{Bratz}}''. She finds the former endearingly annoying and doesn't seem to mind the latter, however, probably because she chloroformed him first.
** He's a fully fledged stalker to Emilia Clarke, having her number on speed-dial despite her hating him in the commercials special, and ignoring Joe in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' to look at naked pictures of her.
* SteelEarDrums: Played straight most of the time and subverted once. All that shooting in close spaces doesn't affect him, but a girl's annoying voice pierces right through.
* StepfordSmiler: A mix of type C/type A.
** A good example of stepfordness is in the beginning of the ''BluesBrothers'' video game where he's waking up in the morning. In Last Angry Geek's review of ''Spider-Man and the X-Men'', where Brian asks whatever happened to Dr. Smith and Critic (with a giant frozen smile) tells him “Cancer. Very sad.”, and it cuts back to Brian mouthing “ouch”. If it weren't for the much sadder take at the end (where he also reveals Dr. Smith was his father), one would assume LackOfEmpathy.
** The PsychopathicManchild version for the first half of ''Disney Afternoon'', especially when Malcolm is unconscious, he has blood on his hands and his response to Tamara wanting to take Malcolm to the hospital is a DissonantSerenity “it's too late for him”. It's only when reality breaks in that he's still commenting on cartoons that he calms down, and even that is just sadder and more cynical.
* TheStoner:
** While he bears none of the character traits associated with the trope, he does make a few references. His plan for the 100th episode was to show a crummy clip show and smoke some pot. He's also on an ongoing search for "Pot Land" according to his review of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show''.
** When he sees Malcolm and Tamara in bunny ears, with guns and hiding behind the desk, he says he usually has to take something to see stuff like this.
** In ''The Sixth Day'' crossover, he asks how long it takes for a powdered horse scrotum to leave your system after you smoke it.
--->'''That Sci Fi Guy''': Um, I'm just gonna move on.
--->'''Critic''': Yeah, you better.
** In ''Iron Man's Coke'', he snorts some coke to calm himself down from getting annoyed that the challenge was done too fast.
* StrawmanEmotional: In his worst moments. The fact that he doesn't seem to even realize he can be like this makes it easier to stomach.
* StrawHypocrite: Goes into this territory a lot in reboot, like when he says “I'm not one to disagree with other's opinions, unless they're stupid and not mine”, when nearly all of his (intended) FinaleSeason had him learning the opposite.
* [[FanDumb The Strawstuffer]]: Invoked. Doug talks in ''TheSimpleWish'' commentary how, even though he has fair days, Critic can never quite grasp how the films he moans about are often the subject of ExecutiveMeddling and that the actor/director/producer is usually not the one he should be directing his complaints at.
* StubbornMule: He calls himself a stubborn old curmudgeon in the "Willy Wonka" Old vs New.
* [[StupidSexyFlanders Stupid Sexy]] KeithDavid, Creator/HughJackman and WillSmith.
-->*slaps himself* BOOBS! YOU LIKE BOOBS!
* SurvivalMantra: Until the Burger King runs away in terror from ''Twister'', "elephant" serves as his call back to reality.
* SweetTooth: He downs an entire bag of candy in ''NickToons''.
* SympatheticPOV: It's his show, so we get to see him break down, fanboy, be a victim, be a jackass, be smart, be dumb... the works. If we knew him from [[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain's]] POV for example, he wouldn't nearly be as likable.
* TakeAThirdOption: When Spoony gives him a choice of reviewing the Reb Brown ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' movie or letting the forced crossdressing pictures of Spooning With Spoony 2 leak out, he chooses a noose instead.
* TakeThisJobAndShoveIt: When he didn't get promoted in his CrustyCaretaker job, we get to see Doug's video of that "I QUIT!" ShirtlessScene.
* TalkativeLoon: When he gets worked up.
* TestosteronePoisoning: Literally. He takes pills that he owns to make him sound like Kevin Conroy, and his voice drops much lower as well as his balls.
** He almost certainly was trying to invoke this at the beginning. Sexist, homophobic, a lower-pitched voice, still wasn't smart but had much more CommonSense, owned a HairTriggerTemper, slobby, easily bored and none of the femmy, childish behavior we know him for.
** Darker in ''Film/TheShining'', as right after admitting his dick both doesn't work anymore and is the only thing keeping him a man, he has a more masculine costume change, has zero patience for any talk of feelings, and acts like an abusive partner to Rachel.
** Realistically (especially for someone RaisedAsTheOppositeGender) in "Old vs New Cinderella'', as right after Devil Boner calls him full of estrogen and Hyper's "ladyfriend", he suddenly gets more concerned about his masculinity being undermined, when he was fine talking about "girl movies" before.
* ThatManIsDead: In the beginning of ''Forest Warrior'', he refuses to do the Creator/ChuckNorris RunningGag because that was the old him, and the new version needs to create new memes that he can be obnoxious about.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee-Critic complained because "everything [he does] has a negative impact on someone" and was desperate for a way to fix it. But his fixing got screwed over by The Review Must Go On making it a paradox, and reboot-Critic practically makes it his mission to hurt people. Sage calls him out on this, but Critic ignores him.
** For an example that happened in the same review, RealityEnsues for the ''Master Of Disguise'' breakdown and he gets in trouble, but he lucidly punches Rachel in the gut at the end of the episode and leaves her on the ground, not caring [[DomesticAbuse what that must look like in context]].
* ThinkingTic: Has a tendency to pucker his mouth when he's thinking something over.
* ThousandYardStare: The BadFuture 2019 in Geek's ''Future's End'' episode gives the implication that he's in permanent about-to-cry mode. And he actually does when Snob shows up.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Santa Christ showing up to erase his memory of ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial''. And "Poor Critic" at the end of his Commercials Special has him getting his self-confidence back.
** In the ''[=NickComs=]'' episode, TemptingFate actually works in his favor for once and gives him ''Series/TheAdventuresOfPeteAndPete''.
** After being so deathly boring for the majority of time, ''Film/{{Junior}}'' gets funny and stupid with Arnold in a dress and spouting one-liners.
** ''Film/DoubleTeam'' more than satisfies him with the "BEST! DEATH! EVER!".
** After going through hell with Sequel Month, he gets to enjoy himself with ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons''.
** Considering how depressed he was that he couldn't muster up the courage to talk to the Chick during the failure date, their relationship becoming DatingCatwoman probably counts.
** [[spoiler: In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, his creator telling him how good of a character he became. Plus saving the world.]]
* TooDumbToLive: Plenty of instances. Examples include taunting Disney villains, tempting an angel to kick his ass and God to strike him down, trusting people he shouldn't and following the orders of Sage ''when he believes he's the devil''.
* TookALevelInBadass: In WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee. Suicidal motivation aside, ''he stood up to Mechakara'' even when he was frustrated, terrified and being held at gunpoint.
* TookALevelInDumbass: Not a bad thing, but he wasn't always lacking in a lot of common sense.
** His IQ dropping since the intelligence of the PlotHole appearances has been lampshaded twice, with [[spoiler: Doug]] complaining that he's been written so stupid and it taking him twenty-two seconds to realize Sage calling him an airhead in the Guyver review.
** Again lampshaded in "The Dark Knight Returns", where he quips that Two-Face (who has two bombs, and wants 22 million dollars in the next 22 minutes) must really like the number "3". Last Angry Geek quietly corrects him. He also later confuses LAG for Linkara, and runs off at the end of the review.
* TookALevelInKindness: Steadily until WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, lampshaded by [[spoiler: Doug himself]]. But...
* TookALevelInJerkass[=/=]SanitySlippage: Things started to go wrong really quickly. There was "The Review Must Go On" where he gaslighted Doug, "An Odd Life Of Timothy Green" where he killed a cat, and both "Son Of The Mask" and "Food Fight" have him broken to a degree that the ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' breakdown can't reach. The "Master Of Disguise" review had RealityEnsues when he's forced to go an asylum for a freak out, then he went Jack Nicholson on Rachel during The Shining review, and it's just gotten worse from there. He's seriously injured Malcolm for ''extremely'' petty reasons, and outright MURDERED the Happy Maddison audience. He's reached a level of AxCrazy that is unprecedented by anything seen before. Perhaps taking him out of the plot hole WASN'T [[CameBackWrong the best idea.]]
** Lampshaded in ''Series/TheShining'', as when he's abusing Rachel on the phone, she snarks back that he's never been nice while she's known him.
** "The Dark Knight Returns" review intentionally contrasts his excited righteous happy post WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, with his smugly insulting, stupid, going-through-the-motions personality in current times.
** The SanitySlippage was lampshaded in ''Film/GhostDad'', where he says he can't talk about the twist because he already has fears about his mental health and doesn't want it to get worse.
** ''Disney Afternoon'' is all about him losing it. He desperately wants to recreate his childhood, even before violence happens he makes Tamara back off because he's so angry about her thinking he was talking about the Saturday morning version, and he's even more of a MoodSwinger than usual. It's only really when reality hits that “nothing's changed” and he's still stuck in a job commenting on cartoons that he moves into the more normal depression and not just being stepford psychotic.
* TooKinkyToTorture: When he's parodying being a DistressedDude in the ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' review, he sounds less defiant and more excited about being electrocuted.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: He has a rarely-mentioned obsession with breakfast cereal, which shows up in his cereal mascots review (obviously) and a crossover sketch with the Nostalgia Chick and The Maven of the Evantide.
* TragicHero: Tragically funny. He genuinely wants to be a NiceGuy or at least feel more optimistic about things, but he can never quite quell his temper. PlayedForDrama in ''ScoobyDoo'' and WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee.
* TragicMonster: Gets so close to it in “Why Do We Love Zombies”, as the ending has him as a zombie, the title card has him as a gored zombie, and there's a DespairSpeech about humanity being beaten out of him.
* {{Transgender}}: At some point he grew up as female, he takes testostorone pills, and he has repeatedly asked if he was born as a girl. Plus he's able to get pregnant by Chick, even if it is by ''Film/{{Ferngully}}'' magic.
* TransparentCloset: The door will be opened and closed for RuleOfFunny and RuleOfCute. Sometimes he'll valiantly attempt to be all about the boobs, other times he'll fangirl guys without the slightest bit of regret. Lampshaded bitterly in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, where he, Paw and Kyle fall out of a closet and he says “enter coming out of the closet joke here”.
* TraumaCongaLine: It is profoundly entertaining to see what horrible thing will happen to him next, either in the present or in his childhood.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: The ''Guyver'' review makes a point of him not remembering WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}, WebVideo/SuburbanKnights or WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee as well as he should. Just what he's forgotten about remains to be seen. ''Bloodrayne'' has him not being able to remember the big fight in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
* TriggerHappy: This bites him in the ass twice; when he panics and shoots Santa Christ in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' and when he kills his childhood icon, Film/MaryPoppins, after ''QuestForCamelot''.
* TrophyWife: He wants to marry Malcolm and leech off his money in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', and he's for a moment okay with being Hyper's hostage boyfriend when he sees the inside of her BigFancyHouse.
* TroubledAbuser: He's horrible to Rachel, uses Malcolm and tries to break down Tamara, but there's something horribly wrong with him and he's been abused himself and still has issues over this.
* TroubledButCute: Boy is pretty damaged.
* TroubledChild: "I had issues." Understatement of the century, dollface.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: The first nod to his abusive childhood was him saying that he shot his Ninja Turtle doll.
* {{Tsundere}}: Showcased in pretty much the entirety of the "Follow That Bird" review.
-->'''Nostalgic Critic:''' Big Bird! Oh my god! He is just as big as I remember him! Some things never change when you're a chi- IT'S A MAN IN A COSTUME! ...A big...loveable...heartwarming costume...
** In ''Film/{{Alaska}}'' he switches between horror at polar bears eating people to fawning over the movie's animal lightning fast.
* TwitchyEye: Towards the end of his "lawyer tastes like deep-seated insecurity and bitterness" joke in ''JurassicPark''. Only Doug knows why. Referenced in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' where he says “we all get nervous twitches like that sometimes”. Quite understandably, his whole face is a twitching mess in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review when Joe is giving Zod ideas on how to torture him. When he's [[spoiler: hallucinating]] at the start of ''Film/TheChristmasTree'' review, his eye jolts in time to his tapping of the coffee machine.
* {{Uke}}: Even ''Chester'' lampshades the implications of "Nerd-On-Critic action". Not to mention that if he spends any time with a woman, it'll end up in MasculineGirlFeminineBoy.
* UndyingLoyalty: As lampshaded by Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''. If he does actually care for someone, he'll cling on tight and do anything for them.
* UnfazedEveryman: Despite his cowardice, he's perfectly accepting of characters from the movies he's watching talking to him.
* UngratefulBastard: As a BecameTheirOwnAntithesis of his UndyingLoyalty in pre-reboot. He never thanks Rachel, Malcolm or Tamara for what they do for him, and he lampshades in Nerd's roast that while Nerd saved him twice in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, he still hates him because he has to.
* UnkemptBeauty:
** He looks much better with a rumpled suit and baseball cap than he does in 'proper' clothes.
** Defied in ''Film/TheShining'', as he wears a flannel shirt, no tie, is more beardy and loses his glasses, meaning he looks more masculine and people won't be distracted by the usual flattering clothes.
** Deconstructed in ''Film/TheLorax'', where he realizes he's dressed the way he is to attract a female audience, and he's just as packaged as the new Onceler.
* UnreliableNarrator: Reboot has him having hallucinations, explicitly [[RealityWarper reality warping]] to fit what he wants and going through SanitySlippage far worse than anything previously, so suffice to say he's not always right about what goes on.
* TheUnsmile: The very beginning of "Top 12 Santa Clauses". He's genuinely excited, but can only grimace uncomfortably.
* UnsportsmanlikeGloating: Maybe it's a good thing that he never wins, because when he does (and that's rare), he acts like a prick.
* UnstoppableRage:
** In response to the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', the Nostalgia Critic shoots the show so many times it literally goes up in a giant explosion.
** And then again for ''Film/BlankCheck''.
** For ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' he gets so angry that the movie keeps making shit up with absolutely no explanation that his anger destroys a town with a nuclear explosion. Then it happens again mere moments later when one of the characters makes a horrible Film/DirtyHarry pun.
** ''Film/TheNeverendingStory 3'' certainly did piss off the NC to no end, but the last straw was, instead of the theme song to the series, they place Rockbiter singing "Born To Be Wild" during the motorcycle scene on the end credits. This sends the NC laughing all the way to Home Depot, buying a crowbar, coming home, and then mercilessly beating ''and raping'' the DVD to pieces.
-->''[[CaptainObvious I'm fucking the DVD! I'm fucking the DVD!]]''
** In ''Dragon's Lair'', he has a crying breakdown when [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything his happy ending gets ruined]].
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Not in the "was nice but is now evil" way, but the "hoped for far more than this" version.
* VanityIsFeminine:
** He frantically paws at his face before running off to print out pictures of it in the photocopier. This is apparently his secret hobby.
** In the ''WebVideo/SharkJumping'' review of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', the only thing that tempts him to do singing again (though he still refuses until the end) is being promised “fabulous costume changes”.
* VerbalTic: The Critic has an extremely prevalent one that typically appears multiple times in the span of every single review. Once you notice it you'll hear it all the time. [[note]] It's "on top of that".[[/note]]
** He will almost always provide a summation of his review along the lines of "The <noun> is <adjective>, the <noun> is <adjective>, the <noun> is <adjective>... In short, it's an <adjective> <noun>."
* VillainProtagonist: There are a lot of signs that he CameBackWrong from the PlotHole, hitting kids, his reason for hating Creator/StephenKing downgraded to "he entertains people", and suggesting torture that even the devil is surprised by. Notably, in ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'', he refuses to help someone dying because he wants to get ranting about the movie off his back, and the camera follows him while keeping the said dying a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Chester. Critic steals Chester's drugs and lets him search for the necronomicon by himself while Chester is somewhat of an UngratefulBastard who will blow up cities just to upset Critic. However, Critic gave Chester a job, a safe place to stay and is the only one on the site to give him money, while Chester will be one of the first to defend Critic against anyone else.
* VocalEvolution: The Nostalgia Critic's voice was much more drawling and manlier in his earlier episodes with Doug's real Chicago accent coming through, with almost none of the high-pitched screaming and animated excitement he'd become known for.
** His Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger impression is improving as well. Impressions in his Schwarzenegger month videos are deeper than his earlier reviews, and pretty close to the real thing.
** His female voice got better too. In early reviews, it was just slightly more high-pitched than his child voice. In 2011 it sounded like a woman was talking.
*** Inverted too. Doug used to be able to do both the male and female sex noises in an especially porny episode of Ask That Guy and for a joke in ''Jaws 3''. But for the sex gag in ''8 Crazy Nights'' he had to get Rachel to do the female voice.
* WalkingDisasterArea: Computers, stuffed animals and kitchen appliances have all blown him up or gone wrong in some way before he even managed to touch them.
* WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency: PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/TheShining'', where he wants a medal for ''not'' making racist pedophila jokes about the little boy and the black guy called Dick.
* WeakWilled: In the Top 11 Cereal Mascots, he goes out (twice) immediately to buy something because advertising told him to. And Devil!Sage manages to control him easily even after he's said he's not the devil.
* WeaponOfChoice: A CoolGun he uses with wild abandon. WordOfGod says it was done for the funny, the menacing aspect and also because it's really quite pathetic.
* WeightWoe: As he gets thinner, he insults HollywoodPudgy actors more and more. Even WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob doesn't escape in the review of ''[[{{Film/Paranoia2011}} Paranoia]]''. In the ''Dragonbored'' review, he even bitches that Jimbroth (obviously played by Doug) is too doughy and could only bench-press two pounds at most.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Being the main character of of the site, everything bad in their world seems to happen to him most of the time (when it's not happening to Linkara). PlayedForLaughs in the ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' review, when a meteor occurs just outside the studio.
* WellExcuseMePrincess: He says the line to Lupa in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights and immediately regrets it, and Phelous says it to him in the ''Child's Play II'' review, putting him in the girl spot and all.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: It's great that you want the Chick to be proud of herself, but forcing her to watch ''{{Bratz}}'' is kinda harsh.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: “Nostalgia Critic Talks Transformers 4” has the Critic/Chester friendship completely gone, with Critic knocking Chester out so he can have his rant, and when Chester buys into the pretty speech, Critic kicks him again showing what he's really like.
** One that isn't actually his fault for once, but Film Brain was his confidant in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but tries to kill Critic in the Purge review.
** Maven happily eats cereal with him in a crossover before he died, and had a skull with a baseball cap as remembrance for a while, but is completely disgusted with him a couple years later. For his part he calls her a prejudiced bitch when she forces him to leave.
* WhatBeautifulEyes: Their prettiness is lampshaded by Lindsay in the ''MoulinRouge'' review.
* WhenHeSmiles: Look at the top picture of the three Critics on his blip page. The first is him being goofy, the second is him looking angry while pointing a gun, and what does the third involve? A cute smile with his dimple showing.
** Played darkly at the end of ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. First time he grins at all in the episode (as he spent it very dead-eyed and depressed) is when the Devil is proud of him for suggesting torture.
** Used for sad effect in ''The Dark Knight Returns'', as his first eyes-meeting genuine grin in ages is a CallForward comment about how deep and awesome WebVideo/DemoReel will be.
* WhiteMaleLead: He doesn't fit the description (you couldn't really view him as privileged other than having a fair amount of money and he's not overshadowing any minority), but he views himself as one.
** Played straighter in the reboot, as he gets the most airtime, often explains the obvious to the bad guys, and the black guy and woman are relegated to one-note characters on the side.
** In "Disney Afternoon", he forces Tamara and Malcolm to dress up like what he thought girls and black men wore in the nineties (hair decorations to the extreme and "ghetto" respectfully). They tell him instantly how wrong his perceptions are.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' review, as Malcolm asks why he gets the most focus seeing as how he's the least interesting of all the characters on the show.
* WhiteMansBurden: In ''Care Bears Nutcracker'', Malcolm tells Tamara he loves the WhiteGuilt movies (like ''Film/12YearsASlave'') because Critic tries to make up for his own racism by always taking him out for dinner after.
* WholesomeCrossdresser: On the TGWTG Vol. 1 DVD, he dresses up like an airline stewardess.
** Douchey has a picture of him wearing MarilynMonroe's dress, which Critic gets embarrassed by.
** He once dressed up as a female irish janitor and recorded things in the girls locker room.
-->'''Critic''': Why don't you just forget I said that?
** And there's ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', where he wears a ''very'' skimpy costume. [[InnocentFanserviceBoy Critic]] didn't know what he was doing, but Doug evidently did.
** When his early teenager self says "I like to wear women's clothing" and dresses up in a blonde wig, present!Critic's already high embarrassment goes through the roof. When his memory has been tampered with and he goes back to them, he calls 12 year old Doug in drag “a young man trying to work some things out”.
** The cheerleading outfit in ''Christmas Story II'' was to prove a point (if a {{fanservice}} one), but the accompanying vlog has him put the mini-skirt to his waist and swing it around curiously. Hyper then interrupts, lunging at him and making him freak before the video cuts out. It also got spoilered in the "Carpet Diem" vlog, as the review aired a few days later and Doug says that because he's been in drag a million times and will be again, the fans mock him constantly and say he's {{transsexual}}.
** In his DVD review of ''Film/TheCinemaSnobMovie'', he dismisses a guy “having an interesting night-life” (with women's clothes) because dude hasn't got the hips for it.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' where Critic dismisses Tamara crossdressing because ''everyone'' crossdresses on the show.
** In the ''Princess Diaries II'' commentary, Doug reveals that when the characters were walking by the Jack Nicholson head, that was actually ''him'' with a pink dress shirt wrapped around his legs. Even Malcolm was impressed with how much his bottom half in pink looks like Anne Hathaway's legs.
** In ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', his immediate reaction to Beth being missing is to tell Tim to get in the Christine dress.
** Aside from the pink gear in the beginning of the ''Jem'' review, he eye-rolls at the girls complaining about having to try on dresses and having someone do your make-up because both those things are fun.
* WhosLaughingNow: He's ''killed'' people who bullied him about ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}''.
* WickedCultured: He may have lost out on smarts, but he knows opera, theater, [[VanityIsFeminine how to take care of himself]], and has a fuckton of beautiful art in his house.
* WifeBasherBasher: Due to that scene in ''Film/AClockworkOrange'', he shoots the lead in ''Film/SingingInTheRain'' because he thinks he's a rapist.
** A bit more noble example occurs when he tries to shoot Lady Tremaine for her abuse of Cinderella.
* WindmillCrusader: As he so paranoidly put it...
-->'''Critic''': ''Hel-lo'' I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. But that hasn't stopped people from trying!
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: He was never great friends with sanity, but could always be relied upon (even if it took a while or a beating) to crash on the ground and do the right thing. Post-reboot however, he's got power learned from "The Review Must Go On" and WordOfGod has even apologized when Critic in ''Series/TheShining'' proved too scary for Rachel to handle.
* TheWonka: His number of issues are a mile long, but people follow him willingly and he's genuinely great at his job. Just don't tell him that last part or he might cry.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: He pouts pretty hard when he learns his temper tantrum destroyed a whole city in ''QuestForCamelot''.
* {{Workaholic}}: Doug being Doug, this creeps into Critic every now and then. Like in ''Film/GhostDad'', he says death is no excuse to stop working, or the GutPunch in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'', when the doctor says his [[spoiler: dying]] mom didn't want to bother him from his work.
** PlayedForLaughs in Linkara's ''Radio/WelcomeToNightVale'' parody as the podcast believes he's just doing clipless reviews to work himself and Malcolm/Tamara to death.
* WorthyOpponent: WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd. He even says "You are indeed the most worthy adversary" during the second episode of the feud.
** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger is probably the only reoccurring person in his reviews that he can both make fun of and have affection for.
* WouldHurtAChild: He makes Evilina cry twice in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'', once by hitting her and yelling at her ''for'' crying, and in ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' he dances happily at the thought of a teenage girl getting whipped.
** In his review of ''BridgeToTerabithia'' (2007), he points out how much Jesse has to put up with all the shit from the male bullies in his class, and after [[spoiler:Leslie dies]], the bully says a line so unforgivably insensitive towards Jesse's situation that sends the Critic off on a [[BerserkButton tangent]] where he feels it is totally {{Justified|Trope}} to strike that kid. Jesse immediately sends the bully reeling with a right hook when he returns to the review. He also spends an extortionate amount of time mocking Anna Sophia Robb's attractiveness for no reason, the nastiness of which he lampshaded next review in ''Film/TheShining''.
** After a fairly bittersweet FriendToAllChildren editorial on why you ''should'' lie to your kids about Santa, he reminds everyone of what he's now like by not caring that he made children cry.
** Played for stepford horror in Maven's “Monster Mash”, as a “cute little girl” thought he was the Angry Video Game Nerd and he bludgeoned her to death.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/MaximumOverdrive'', where he shows you the one shot of a child's head exploding “because he has a sick obsession for violence that he should probably question more”.
* WouldHitAGirl: Mostly The Nostalgia Chick. Naturally, she likes beating on him just as much.
** Although it seems he only does this with women who can give as good as they get. He's disgusted with ''Film/GoodBurger'' for Carmen Electra getting beaten up and having it played for laughs, which causes {{irony}} for later, as he hits Rachel and Tamara a lot and while Tamara will usually get her own back eventually, Rachel [[RealityEnsues cried when he was scaring her and stayed down when he beats her outside]].
* YankTheDogsChain: Looking forward to ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'' theme at the end of ''Film/TheNeverendingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia'', Critic? [[spoiler: How about a montage of extreme CharacterDerailment instead?]]
** When he starts to be sure that ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' has ended on an at-least-not-so-bad note, the movie proves him wrong. He doesn't take it well.
** He was on the verge of solving world hunger and cure all unknown diseases when ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' popped into his head and broke all concentration.
** After having an adorably fun time with the creators of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', he fucks up at the end because of an immature request.
** In ''Film/SimonSez'', when ObscurusLupa accepts him not wanting to do a crossover with her, he's almost heartbreakingly delighted that someone actually ''listened'' to him. Of course she's only messing around.
** At the end of ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' review, the "great spirits" let him know that he doesn't have to do Nostalgia-Ween anymore. What he has to do instead? ''WesternAnimation/Dougs1stMovie''. And not even that exchange was enough, as 2013 brought another Nostalgia-Ween that portrayed him as both a psychotically racist DomesticAbuser and a depressed zombie.
** As soon as he says he doesn't want ''anything'' more to do with ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' after making it through without having to hear the dreaded theme song, guess what plays?
** He spends most of Star Trek month paranoid that Linkara will show up and nitpick in his usual way. When he thinks it's over and he's free, guess who shows up?
** The Critic is overjoyed that the next film he is going to review is ''The Avengers''. He [[Film/TheAvengers2012 thought]] it would be the Creator/JossWhedon project, not the film adaptation of the [[Film/TheAvengers1998 British spy series.]]
** Particularly painful for him is his happy ending in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee getting retconned into a paradox. Two years later and he's still bitter, even as he's forgetting details about what happened.
*** He was also ruling over an entire universe, but then as shown in ''Dawn Of The Commercials'', he had to go back to living with his abusive mother [[spoiler: until she died in ''Jurassic Park III'']].
* YaoiFanboy: He sees the HoYay in [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superman/Lex Luthor]], [[LordOfTheRings Frodo/Sam]], [[Series/AmericanIdol Simon Cowell/Ryan Seacrest]], [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman/Robin]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}} Leonardo/Raphael]].
* YouthfulFreckles: Not on his face, but the rest of his body. Which is fitting for how many times he's taken his clothes off.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: As pathetic as he is and as pathetic as even the gun is (according to WordOfGod), you can't really say he doesn't leave an impact when he's genuinely pissed off.
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* FailureHero: It's very rare that he'll get what he wants or win.
* {{Fainting}}: The emotional kind is played for laughs in his review of ''Film/JudgeDredd'', ''TheWizard'', the "I love you, wife" line from ''Film/LostInSpace'' and he uses fangirls from Disney movies to do yet more swooning over WillSmith in ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
* FallenHero: In terms of symbolism, WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee had him in a PeacefulInDeath CrucifiedHeroShot as he sacrificed himself before practically becoming God, while ''SonOfTheMask'' had him prostrate himself in front of the devil and weepingly begging for death. In terms of personality, the reboot started with him maiming a cat and it only got worse from there. [[http://24.media.tumblr.com/02d00a1540e9dc860f72092793b8caf2/tumblr_moxptkMjcY1rfwqaro1_1280.png The Master Of Disguise]] dropped another anvil.
* FalseFriend: At first, he tells the Hyper Fangirl nice things and lets her think he's her friend, but he tells Black Willy Wonka beforehand that he finds her obnoxious and just keeps her around because he likes rejecting the attention. This choice doesn't work out for anyone.
* {{Fanboy}}: Whenever there's something he likes, or at least a hammy GuiltyPleasure, he'll be gleeing and enjoying himself immensely. When he's faced with Don Bluth himself in ''Conquest Of The Commercials'' he goes super sonic {{squee}} before he realizes Don is pissed off with him.
* FanDisservice: In the reboot. A SexySoakedShirt scene comes from him soaking himself in gasoline, he's super skinny [[note]]Doug explained in "All Your Fault" that he just doesn't eat because he's working constantly[[/note]] and ashamed of any sort of shirtlessness, views of his ass crawling away from the camera are hide to enjoy when he's sobbing, and he gets pissy at anyone finding him good-looking.
* FanDumb: [[invoked]] Of The Monomaniac variant. Taken to the extreme in “Blue Brothers 2000”, where his ranting at Dan Aykroyd for making a shitty sequel to one of his favorite films occurs while a woman is dying and her friend is begging him to help.
* FanHater: He [[{{in-universe}} says]] that anyone who likes ''[[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal]]'' and the Creator/JimCarrey remake of ''TheGrinch'' is stupid. (Note that Doug doesn't think this at all, and tries to actively fight this and ReviewsAreTheGospel.)
-->'''Critic''': I know it's just my opinion but I'm right.
** Subverted in the early ''Harry Potter'' video, as he trolls/mocks most of the fans there, but when the book is announced, has a {{squee}} FreakOut.
** ''ScoobyDoo'' finally has him try to grow out of this, asking [[spoiler: Roger]] with genuine curiosity about why a film can do so well when everyone mocks it.
** Reboot brought him down even harder, as in ''8 Crazy Nights'' he has a "Happy Madison Audience" laughing idiotically at every stupid thing he says and ends the bit with "it's funny because they shouldn't live". [[spoiler: He even kills them later]].
*** The extreme hatred he has for anyone who found some good in TMZ is such a turn from Doug's previous "like what you like" mantra that [[http://tgwtgsecrets.tumblr.com/post/51729890214/a-defense-of-tmz-from-an-avid-fan even his real-life friends are confused]].
*** "Is Parody Dead" features plenty of mocking of people who find anything good in films like ''Film/ScaryMovie'' or the ''Creator/SeltzerAndFriedberg'' franchise. Like with his trashing of TMZ, nobody's defending those movies, but it still makes him look like he's kicking an easy target, and he should and has known better.
*** Not even five minutes into the review, he calls ''Film/ManOfSteel'' fans “blood-hungry psychopaths”, and later on he condescends why Joe and others would like it. Luckily Zod mocks him for it.
*** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheShining'' when literally his only reasoning to do another Stephen King mini-series is “nothing like celebrating the holidays by attacking a man who has done nothing to me and is making his living by entertaining others”.
*** Gets called out on it in ''The Guyver'', as Sage (who has been above and beyond gentle with him for the whole review) finally loses his temper and tells him to shut up when Critic can't get that he likes the movie and shouldn't be called stupid for it.
*** Anyone who likes ''Film/TheLorax'' gets treated like they're stupid, but he reserves special scorn for Onceler fangirls, who scream every time he's mentioned, get treated like they're just hipsters and switch to perving on him when he compares himself to the Onceler.
*** He acts like everyone who enjoyed ''Transformers 4'' (note that this includes [[https://t.co/79NQetfDv7 Lindsay]], [[https://twitter.com/Nellachronism/status/482818339157180416 Nella]] and [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/bj/bcmr/43852-transformers-age-of-extinction Brad]]) is giving Bay his penis and can't look after himself. In his own review, Doug says that this is just an asshole character talking, and he himself doesn't think (or is at least trying really hard not to) you're an idiot, he's just sad and tired and doesn't understand.
*** PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/EventHorizon'', as he thinks it's the film jocks watch when they think they're edgy.
* FanMyopia:
** In-universe. While Doug makes an intentional effort to avert it, Critic assumes that everyone who watches him are also familiar with everything he reviews. He also always gets disappointed when his fans don't know classical actors, black-and-white movies and operas. Exaggerated in ''Film/TheShining'', where he goes catatonic at the thought of King doing something better than his idol Kubrick.
** In ''When Does A Joke Go Too Far'', he accuses Meyrl Streep of falsely accusing Walt Disney of bigoted behavior. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney#Accusations_of_antisemitism_and_racism Even his biographers, while defending him, admit he wasn't exactly innocent]], [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10574940/Walt-Disney-was-a-racist-great-niece-backs-up-Meryl-Streep.html and Walt's great niece]] backed Meryl up.
* FanservicePack: He looks much more put together physically than he did at the start, going from lazy nerd to HollywoodNerd. Although better lighting and his older clothes getting worn out have probably helped.
** {{Lampshaded}} in the ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' review:
-->'''Critic''': ([[SmugSnake being completely up himself]]) "It's hard to believe that such a handsome man could become even handso... hansomen... prettier."
** An amusing {{irony}} comes from watching ''Film/{{Kazaam}}'' where Critic mentions his “fat and hairy ass”, and yet as the years went on there's a ridiculous amount of FemaleGaze where said ass is concerned.
** Lampshaded in the ''Christmas With The Kranks'' behind the scenes but ultimately avoided in the actual review, as Doug planned to get baggier jeans for his 2007 self (to push that he was now thin enough to wear tighter clothes), but it would have been too much work swapping pants constantly.
* FantasticRacism: Where he's not actually being racist himself but accusing others. In ''Monster Mash'' he accuses Maven of not allowing zombies like him to get [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything get married in Florida]], and there's a joke in “Why Do We Love Zombies” about raising zombie awareness.
* FeigningIntelligence: In ''The Dark Knight Begins Rising'' when he spews off social issue gibberish analyzing just to get back at The Last Angry Geek (and [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/40488-the-last-airbender Doug]], and [[http://benthesage.com/reviews/aa/anime-abandon-the-guyver-with-nostalgia-critic/ Sage]]) for pointing that coming back from the PlotHole has degraded his smarts.
* {{Fetish}}: Plenty. As stated in a few reviews; strong, toppy women, charming black guys, masochism, being humiliated, dildos, roleplay, bondage, fingering, licking whipped cream off a hot body, crossdressing (for some reason ''this'' is the one he's ashamed of the most), fictional incest couples that are the right age and not parent-child [[note]] he says this is the only way He-Man and She-Ra could get his attention[[/note]], the Chick's firey temper and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick six-breasted cats from outer space]]. Plus he's mixed between knowing ''Film/EyesWideShut'' style orgies are creepy and abusive, but also wanting one to happen to him.
* FirstGrayHair: ''AI'' prominently featured gray patches in his beard, and the episode is the first time in the reboot that he has a full-out mental slip with the flashback.
* {{Flanderization}}: The StepfordSmiler and screaming anger (that Doug made an effort to use sparingly in later reviews) increased significantly after he came back.
** His SincerityMode voice has become slower and more effected too instead of the more natural sounding tone from before. Might be deliberate, as Doug has noted the condescending hypocrisy of the nitpicking editorial in particular.
* FluffyTamer: He hates meant-to-be-liked animals in movies (and they usually hate him right back), but falls completely in love with the gross ones, like the targ from ''Star Trek III''.
* TheFool: Deconstructed. ''Film/BabyGeniuses'' and "NC Fuck-Ups III" proved once and for all he doesn't care anymore if people find him stupid, but if they think he's not creative or funny, then life isn't worth living.
* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: The foolish to the Other Guy's responsible. He's the {{Hotblooded}} PsychopathicManchild who gets wasted by 6PM.
* ForTheEvulz: In “The Plot To Frozen 2”, his reasoning for spoiling everything that's going to happen is that he's an asshole.
* FragileFlower: Luckily he mixes this with more {{Hotblooded}} tropes, but he breaks down in tears often for no reason. The ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' parody in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' calls him a crybaby.
* FreudianExcuse: Inverted. He had all kinds of bullying, shitty parents and retreated into obsessing over TV like the Chick, but he trashes this belief in ''Film/TheCell'' by saying having a tragic past isn't a good excuse for doing things wrong as an adult.
* FreudianSlip:
** From the ''A Kid in King Arthur's Court'' review.
-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': Hey, they're actresses first and sisters second, and that's good enough in my porno--book.
** ''Film/BarbWire'': "I remember it so you don't boobies! I mean, boobies, in the boobies boobies..."
* FriendlessBackground: And no sign of [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist social services anywhere]]. This comes back in the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as it's his FreudianExcuse for kidnapping people and forcing them to be his friends.
* FriendToAllChildren: Except the [[BrattyHalfPint annoying ones]].
* FriendToPsychos:
** With Ask That Guy. He's not too bothered about being teased by him, is severely icked by the questions he gets asked but lets him violate Ma-Ti, is able to survive living in the same house with him ([[{{Twincest}} and share the same bed]]) and looked about to cry when Ask That Guy didn't save him in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''.
** Explicitly to the Devil in ''Spawn'', as he says going down to hell was fun and he should do it more often.
* GagPenis: [[spoiler:Thanks to Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Critic is unable to stand up from his chair and walk away at the end of his review of ''Film/{{The Phantom|1996}}''. Even he's embarrassed by it.]] It's also big enough that it keeps thumping against the desk during his review of ''Film/BlankCheck''.
* {{Gayngst}}: One explanation for why he was so happy to hit on guys pre-comeback and suddenly getting really bad with gay jokes both after and in Reloaded.
* GeniusDitz: He's silly, gullible and not all there, but he's eloquent when not swearing up a storm, is very fond of black-and-white movies, can apparently follow black hole theories, is disgusted by the lack of history awareness in ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicVoyage'' and has a brain when it counts.
* GenreSavvy: "I know how this works. If I say the entire title that means that I've got to review it next week." [[GenreBlindness He always ends up saying it anyway]].
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Getting splashed with water is probably one of the nicer ways of doing that.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot > YuriFan: He went from drooling over attractive, underage sisters having a bit of IncestSubtext, to explaining why BaitAndSwitchLesbians and {{fanservice}}y HaveIMentionedIAmGay aren't helping gay rights in the slightest.
* GirlsHaveCooties: Before he hit puberty early, they were cootie-filled loudmouth annoyances.
-->'''Critic''': I don't know, maybe it's my inner little boy, but I just hate this fucking character [Webby], with her pwecious little bow and her cutie-cute dress and those cootie-filled eyes... boys forever! No girls allowed! I'm never going to like girls until the day I die! [shows cleavage] Aww shit, boobs ruin everything.
* GirlyRun: Shows off an adorably flaily one in the beginning of ''Star Trek Insurrection''.
* GoGoEnslavement: In the Game Heroes promo. He's surprised and scared that he's wearing a different shirt, so he must have been unconscious and at least shirtless at some point.
* GoingCommando: When he creams himself at the end of ''TheWorstWitch'', he sults that he's wearing a white suit so it's no problem.
* GoMadFromTheRevelation:
** [[Film/BatmanAndRobin A Bat... credit card?]] A ''BAT'' '''CREDIT''' '''''CARD'''''!?!
** "[[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry A cat and mouse]] are driving a ship trying to save the daughter of Franchise/IndianaJones while being chased by a purple people eater, a dog on a skateboard, a performing ship captain, his hand puppet Squawk, two Mexican wrestlers and a doctor riding an ice cream cart. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the [[MindScrew Mind Fuck]]."
** He does this in his ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' review. He has a "WE DON'T CARE" outburst when the chase scene pisses him off.
* GoodCounterpart: To WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses, which gets reversed in reboot, as Ask That Guy was getting more human before he vanished (and even more so when he came back to die), and [=NuCritic=] gets special treatment and praise from the devil, something ATG never had.
* GoldDigger:
** Manchild version, mixed with commentary-confirmed StockholmSyndrome. As soon as he sees that Hyper Fangirl has a ton of TestosteronePoisoning comics, he says he's under-estimated the perks of dating a psychopath. [[spoiler: Thankfully by the end he's thinking with his head brain, not his dick brain and tells her he'll never be into her]].
** In ''Film/DemolitionMan'', when Malcolm comes up with a good idea for the seashells, Critic tells him they'll marry and Critic can mooch off his money.
* GreenEyedMonster: Part of why he's a MeanBoss. This is the only thing he has so he's freaked out by people going into his territory and doing it better than him (or so he thinks).
* GrowingUpSucks: A slight variation of the trope, in that every stage of his life has proved to be a disappointment:
-->'''Critic''': "When you're a [[KidsAreCruel kid]] all you can think about is being in high school. When you're in [[TeensAreMonsters high school]] all you can think about is being in college. When you're in college all you can think about is being an adult. And when you're an [[JadedWashout adult]] all you can think about is being a [[ManChild kid again]]. LIFE FUCKING SUCKS!"
* TheGruntingOrgasm: Subverted. As usual, he's stereotypically feminine about it and whenever he acts one out, it's about as high-pitched as you can get. And with the Chick also being established to be noisy in bed, one wonders how loud their sex was.
** Lampshaded by Doug's ''dad'' (because he'd been insulted by Doug previously) in the ''8 Crazy Nights'' behind the scenes video.
-->'''Mr. Walker''': You know with those sounds you make Doug you must have one hell of a home life.
* {{Guyliner}}: Most noticeable in the "Top Eleven Dumbest Superman Moments" and ''The Exorcist II''. Both are celebrated by his fangirls.
* HappyPlace: Catherine Zeta Jones wearing a tie, glasses, a baseball cap and a long sweater is the best ever image he can conjure up. As a kid, it was a naked April O'Neil covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
** Less sexually, commercials. Let him explain:
-->'''Critic''': It's like they exist in their own little world, a world that wants to scam you and be nice to you at the exact same time. Something about them strangely gives me comfort.
** DarkerAndEdgier in ''Disney Afternoon'', as he's trying very hard to forget that commenting on cartoons is a current thing he does, and gets violent or depressed at any intrusion of reality.
** At the end of ''Film/TheShining'', of course parodying the movie, the inside of Critic's head is a house, with a wall full of demented pictures, and himself surrounded by people.
** When he's knocked out with a baseball bat in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'', he's happily skipping in a purple meadow with birds flying behind him and pretty music playing.
* HasAType: Aside from being an AmazonChaser[=/=]AggressiveSubmissive, he tends to like shorter brunettes, the more fucked up in the head the better. A joke in ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'' review lampshades this, as he's so repressed that his fantasy is the very blonde (but still playing psychotic) Jessica Lange.
* HatesBeingAlone:
** In ''Film/JudgeDredd'', when given the choice of living in an abusive care home or walking alone until death, he chooses the former.
** He kidnapped Malcolm so that he could have a BlackBestFriend, and installed a chip in his head so that he blows up if he tries to leave Chicago.
** In ''Film/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'', he's disappointed at having to do the review on his own and with [[ContinuityNod nobody to bounce off of]].
* HatesBeingTouched:
** He gets really skeeved by touchy feely in the reboot. So naturally he gets nearly everyone in his personal space, from Santa Christ to catwomen.
** In a specific-person example, he's shrunk back from Hyper twice when they've had a close conversation (mostly involving trying to get her to apologize for what she did to him), and just holding her hand in one of her vlogs makes him shudder.
* HatesSmallTalk: The awkward, filled-with-this date with the Chick drove him to breaking point.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Critic does this to ''himself''.
-->'''Critic:''' [[[StupidSexyFlanders fantasizes about]] WillSmith] [slaps himself] BOOBS! YOU LIKE BOOBS!
** He does the same thing when he's porning over Creator/HughJackman in the Chick's review of ''Film/KateAndLeopold''. As he's basically giving a handjob to a stick of butter, it's even less credible than the first time.
** The "Critic Reloaded" reviews. He makes like ten BrainBleach-needing jokes at ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' for [[ItMakesSenseInContext himself]] showing his legs (both Critic and Doug have bragged about that {{fanservice}}), and mocks ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' for being like "Up with more homo-eroticism".
** After years of being [[HoYay/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses very]] [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/nostalgia-critic-the-haunting-5634970 very]] ''[[WebVideo/DemoReel very]]'' queer-friendly, all the reboot's talk of putting dicks into women, making women pregnant and [[{{hypocrite}} mocking femmy guys]], comes off as trying way too hard.
** The entire joke of "Why Is Loki So Hot". One wonders why he even chose the video topic if he's turned that insecure.
** "The Strangest But Best Couples". Someone might want to tell him that he's been in bed with plenty of guys and this is the first time he's whined about wanting women instead. Not long after this, he shot the ''WebVideo/TheUncannyValley'' review where Critic slipped up and admitted he's been repressing sexuality for a while, which would explain a lot.
** When Sandra Bullock's character snarks that straight men show their affection by swearing at each other, he immediately has to add in a “fuck yeah” even though he knows he'll get shocked for it. He subverts it later by being an equal opportunity GoldDigger and telling Malcolm he'll marry him for the money.
* HearingVoices: Of the kids who bullied him over ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', as well as genuinely creepy laughter.
* HeartbreakAndIceCream: When he's suffering from depression after being called pathetic, he eats his weight in junk food.
* [[SheCleansUpNicely He Cleans Up Nicely]]: In the Chick's ''Worst Witch'' review, despite the ridiculous wig, he manages to pull off an all-white suit quite impressively. Chick gets a little annoyed by how Elisa and Nella suddenly fangirl over him when he arrives.
** He looks better in Linkara's shirt and tie than [[http://blip.tv/at4w/at4w-superman-for-the-animals-1-6879891 Linkara does]].
* HeelRealization: At the ending of ''Matrix Revolutions'', Malcolm and Tamara are themselves again, and Critic notices that they haven't smiled in a while, and that's his fault. Though he's abusing them even harder by ''Film/DemolitionMan''.
* HeIsAllGrownUp: To be as kind as possible, thank all the Gods the greasy hair/acne/horrible teeth combo he had as a preteen didn't last long.
* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: Critic in the title cards is far more villainous, masculine and competent than our version.
** In ''Film/TheMatrix'' review, he's TheChosenOne and it's his destiny to tell people why the film wasn't actually that good. As one can gather, when he complains about it Tamara tells him he wrote it so shh.
** Lampshaded in-universe at the beginning of ''Sharknado'', where Snob says he doesn't actually need Critic's help, he's just following the script Critic wrote.
* HeroicBSOD: Has one during ''[[BlackComedyRape Spooning With Spoony 2]]''.
** Also, the Critic's "mourning" of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' a la ''{{Hamlet}}'' seems to have him rather depressed.
** ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' has him starting the review feeling like he just got raped.
** The Critic opens the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' review like this, apparently still in shock from the insanity of the show.
** Another one happens in his ''My Pet Monster'' review, where in the end he gets asked by the producers of the movie why he is reviewing kids movies and getting incredibly wound up by them at the age of 28. He decides he needs ask himself some hard questions, and spends the credits just sitting on a chair while sad music plays. The depression lasts until the next week where he's pigging out on junk food, his self-esteem is six feet under and he would have given up completely if it hadn't been for an epic HesBack number.
** ''Film/BabyGeniuses'' had him aimlessly wandering around Animarathon recalling that the movie was [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible so horrible it left him unable to review it]]. He scares a random cosplayer, angsts a lot in his hotel room, punches a guy's lights out, screams at the convention audience in his Q&A panel and stares at the wall three times, each time forcing himself to look away. He snaps out of it when he realizes that his inner monologue counts as a review.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', The Critic joins with the Plot Hole to save the universe.]]
* HeroicSuicide: Twice, in ''ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''. They have noble reasons, but both times he's happily relieved to be ending it.
* HeroWorshipper: "Lucas! ...darling."
* HeManWomanHater: Characterization sadly marched him on into one of these when he came back. He hates the women immediately in ''Film/PearlHarbor'', and doesn't even care when one of them dies. Why? Because they giggle too much. [[SarcasmMode Curse those irredeemable bitches!]]
** His female audience really didn't appreciate his assumption that majority of women want to be infantilized and get called "girls".
** He outright admits he's turned into one for ''Film/{{Catwoman}}''.
-->'''Critic''': Suck my sexist women-bashing chauvinistic stripper-watching porn-loving overly paid dick!
** In "Why Is Loki So Hot", he shows himself as one of the few guys who thinks that ''women'' display EntitledToHaveYou the most, saying that the reason AllGirlsWantBadBoys and [[invoked]] TheWoobie are such popular tropes are because women want a clinically depressed scary man to fight their battles, have his demons nurtured and as a result, be coerced into sleeping with them and being their sex toy.
** The ''Anime/SailorMoon'' review got two [[http://henshinjustice.com/2013/08/07/nostalgia-critic-takes-a-stab-at-sailor-moon/ whole]] [[http://shojopower.com/blame-it-on-the-sluts-nostalgia-critics-review-of-sailor-moon/ articles]] dissecting how sexist he was to Usagi and the show in general.
** Lampshaded and played for laughs in the ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' review, as he starts out the episode with “boys rule!”, praises treating the sister badly because “that'll teach girls for not indulging our prejudice” and treats Tamara awfully throughout.
* HesBack: He gets to have a kickass song and say he's proud of his patheticness at the end of his first commercial special. It might not have lasted, but it was still awesome.
* HeteronormativeCrusader:
** The Frodo/Sam complaining in "Top 11 Dumbest Lord of the Rings Moments" made him look pretty bad, shoehorning a NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat before making disgusted faces at "romance novel" lines that were in the books and were given the praise of Ian [=McKellen=] for being so endearing, as well as refusing to believe any of it was intentional and having no clue of the {{bromance}} genre.
** The biggest complaint ''AI'' got was that the ending, while intending to show that Critic was just mad at the hypocrisy, came off as Critic being disgusted that the thought of his two favorite directors being gay, and that male crossdressing was both the punchline (instead of said hypocrisy) and seen as a worse sin than racism.
** In ''Princess Diaries 2'', he holds not-well-explained [[note]]as when gay marriage was legalized throughout America, Doug was apparently so delighted that Rob teased him for puking rainbows weeks later[[/note]] scorn for Mia and her friend cheering for a gay prince, demanding they be funny instead of “pro... something”.
** Before his character cemented and he had plenty of gay moments himself, his early episodes are pretty bad with this, like when he complains at the end of ''Series/PowerRangers'' about “why is the [robot] so gay?”
* HesGotLegs: ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' gives them a lot of [[FemaleGaze attention]]. And Lupa said in a stream that he didn't even shave them. You may now start hating him, ladies.
* HiddenDepths: He knows his Chinese, he plays the clarinet, his childhood idol was Film/MaryPoppins and he's a Shakespeare and Greek Mythology buff.
* HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood: While also sad and inducing a lot of FridgeHorror, his childhood and the TraumaCongaLine that went on is built on BlackComedy.
* HolierThanThou: To dig the knife into Sage even more after the events of ''The Guyver'', ''Lady Death'' reveals that he keeps sending the guy rosary beads because he ''still'' thinks he's evil.
* HollywoodAutism: With Doug relating [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse the autistic-coded Peridot]] to Critic multiple times in the vlogs, one can spot a lot of autistic traits with him (like not really registering other people exist, needs routine, doesn't get how conversations work etc), along with all his other issues.
* HollywoodDateless: Reboot only. He's so sex-starved that he uses Rogue figurines as wank tools, but he has people feeling him up all over the place.
** He's also jealous of Hugh Hefner owning loads of female attention, but he's got his very own stalker personification of all the out of universe fangirls he has.
* HollywoodNerd: How many "geeks" do you know that can pull off eyeliner as well as he did?
* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders: Easily suicidal, unstable mood swings, bad self image, doesn't have healthy relationships, binge eats when feeling bad, violent towards himself and others, doesn't like being abandoned and has a history of childhood trauma.
* HollywoodThin: Starting post-WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee filming, Doug has periods where he just looks strange (like ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' review where his head is tiny on his shoulders) yet nobody says a word and he's still meant to be seen as attractive. In 2014 Doug at least explained the weight loss in both an ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' vlog and Momocon, reassuring that he doesn't have an eating disorder (but also saying please don't aspire to be his level of not eating), just gets too wrapped up in work.
* HolyHalo: Behind his head in [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/images/stories/front/ncearly.jpg this picture]]. It should be noted that with all the red and the threatening sword, the halo is not a good thing.
* HonorBeforeReason: He couldn't stop himself from saving a little girl in ''Care Bears II'' even when he knew it was a trap (thus getting himself kidnapped), and he still tried to protect his team against [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Malachite]] even after his groin must have been smashed into jelly.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: While easily being able to spot ObviouslyEvil in the movies he looks at, he's not so good when it comes to people in his own life. WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick and WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses are perfect examples.
* {{Hotblooded}}: He finds it incredibly difficult to hide any emotion, whether it's happy, depressed or angry.
* HotGuysAreBastards: Diamanda showed great restraint in not blowing up his head when he freaked at the site hiring scary-looking people like her.
* HumanHummingbird: He moves fast whenever he flails, whether it's while running, excitement or having a FreakOut.
* HumiliationConga: Pretty much the entire reason for the existence of the ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' review is because the Critic was forced at gun-point to give a ''positive review of a movie everyone liked'' to rectify the public's shameful opinion of his first (and probably last) LetsPlay, which was posted a week earlier.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Demanding pure logic in the silliest of cartoons, but running on emotion himself.
** Even though he has a ton of {{guilty pleasure}}s, he never fully gets that people can like movies that he can't stand.
** He's so unwilling to accept Ma-Ti's death that he'll try and find (or make Chester find) a supernatural book that would raise the dead, but even in the [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights movie]] where the aforementioned dying happened, he never fought back when he thought ''he'' was about to be killed.
** In "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green" and the ''{{Twilight}}'' editorial, he makes rants about learning from your mistakes and growing up. The irony that this comes after WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee but he's back to screaming and having psychotic breaks like he did years ago has not been lost on people.
** He also jokes that the mother in “The Odd Life Of Timothy Green” is “as unfruitful as her garden”. Remember when he called a similar joke in ''Film/{{North}}'' “the worst thing uttered by humanity”?
** Five minutes after a giant getting-up-on-his-high-horse rant about Bay showing the soldiers in a shitty light, he accuses Bay of "editing history" to make the soldiers look better. It's confusing.
** When Real!Critic and the others give Ma-Ti a funeral in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', he calls them awful people for cremating him. Says the guy who screamed for BrainBleach every single time one of the male reviewers had a {{fanservice}} moment.
** He acts pretty high and mighty with the TMZ crew considering that he's bashed actors for sexuality and weight just because his creator told him not to.
*** In ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'' he even uses a TMZ-like picture of Creator/AdamSandler being overweight on a beach because for whatever reason film!Sandler being trim pisses him off.
*** He's also disgusted by the head of TMZ slapping the crying Rachel character, but that's an awful lot like something he did a [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/nostalgia-critic-the-cat-in-the-hat-6571199 few episodes previously]].
** Doug put "Is It Right To Nitpick?" up on facebook noting the irony of Critic preaching about the subject.
** Sage calls him right out on this new trait in ''The Guyver'', telling him he has no right to bitch at other people (which he did) for enjoying something stupid and not letting anything go considering he does both things all the time.
** Wanting to go back to his "nostalgic roots" in ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' after how proud he was of making Doug remove the cut-off date in ''The Review Must Go On''.
** Intentionally done at the end of "When Is A Movie Just A Movie", where after condescending that it's your own problem if you get hurt by a movie and playing the [[invoked]] MST3KMantra song, saying that if ''he'' gets upset then that's allowed.
** Sympathetic example at the end of ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', as he tells Burton that nothing good can come out of living in someone else's shadow, and when everyone finds out that he had a Burton shrine, Carrot Juice points out that Critic was living in Burton's shadow.
** The guy who openly admitted on several occasions that's he's [[invoked]] PanderingToTheBase and is OnlyInItForTheMoney with his own work preaches like mad to the focus group guys in ''Film/TheLorax'' about how both of those things are wrong. This gets acknowledged at the end where the analysts are gone and he's with Black Willy Wonka being disappointed that he's not getting the secrets to money and happiness.
** For all his mocking of Linkara's clichés, [[http://blip.tv/at4w/at4w-superman-for-the-animals-1-6879891 he can't take it]] when Linkara trashes his screaming, [[invoked]] {{fountain of memes}} reputation and disrespect for his audience. [[note]]should be noted that this is in-character, and doesn't apply to Doug/Lewis's poking fun at each other[[/note]]
** In the ''American Beauty'' editorial, he musters up disgust for the film making pedophilia “quirky”, but ends it thanking a sixteen year old Thora Birch for showing her breasts (who because she was a minor at the time, had to get her parents to approve).
** In “Why Do We Holiday Too Early”, he gets that he's the last person who should be lecturing other people regarding getting fixated on holidays and associating them with happiness.
** He absolutely hates children getting getting hurt or mistreated, but makes a child abuse joke in ''Cop and a Half'', hits and insults Evillina when he's supposed to be babysitting her in ''The Cat in the Hatt'', and murders several kids during ''TMNT'14''.
* IAmNotMyFather: From what we've heard of Daddy Critic's... parenting attitudes, Critic is trying his best to go the opposite way and be like a designated defender of kids everywhere. Although also subverted in reboot, as his father probably wouldn't kill a child because they had mistaken him for someone else.
* IconicItem: His tie has become this, and his gun to a lesser extent. The former becomes somewhat important in ''ScoobyDoo'', where it's only half-done when he's broken but tied properly when he's giving the poker game a shot.
* IconicOutfit: Baseball cap, white t-shirt, black suit jacket and a loose red tie. (And jeans of course.)
* IdenticalStranger:
** He shared a great resemblance to comic book writer Creator/EdBrubaker, known for his run on ComicBook/CaptainAmerica. And yes, that does make his review of the Matt Salinger ''Film/{{Captain America|1990}}'' movie hilarious for those that follow Captain America more than they do the Critic.
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, Erod gets him confused with Creator/EdwardNorton.
* IGaveMyWord: He might despise the movies he's forced to sit through, but if he's promised to do them then he'll try his best to get through the pain. Even for the ''Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special" he only put up a bit of fight before giving up and doing his job.
* IgnoredEpiphany: At the end of ''Film/SurfNinjas'', after having a DyingDream where he likes it, he says he'll never like anything ever again. The next episode after was the "Top 11 Nostalgic Animated Shows", so that really didn't last.
** At the end of ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' he admits he's been needlessly mean to Blue Sky, but casually dismisses that and keeps going with the dickishness.
** He feels guilty and confused over driving the analysts in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' to suicide, but quickly gets over it. Later in ''Film/TheLorax'', he references it being his fault that they died but doesn't feel bad.
* IHatePastMe: ''Christmas With the Kranks'' has the Critic travelling back to 2007 so the review would be a "no effort deal' like his early videos. And eventually he has arguments with his past self and his modus operandi. But he gets a CharacterCheck at the end, remembering why he did the reviews in the first place (to be loved), and it becomes NotSoDifferent.
* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: In his "Film/WhereTheWildThingsAre" editorial, he briefly mentions feeling ugly and imagining himself as pretty.
* IJustWantToBeLoved: The business in the ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach'' was partly HappinessIsMandatory and partly he really needs people to like him again. Another instance of showing just how bad this is, he's overflowing with joy at the end of the Anime/LittleNemoAdventuresInSlumberland review because "he's never felt so loved". Seeing as he's only being celebrated because he didn't make a ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' joke... oof.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: He kidnapped Malcolm to force him to be his BlackBestFriend (and chloroforms him occassionally when he gets mouthy) and WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot has him kidnapping people because he's never had any friends and craves them.
* IJustWantToBeYou:
** He's bitchy to child actors who he thinks doesn't deserve the attention they get, not getting that they mostly lead really hard lives. One of the reasons he hates Satine from ''MoulinRouge'' (who is ''a prostitute'' mind you) is because she's not satisfied with the attentive adulation she gets. He's genuinely confused as to why the Superman cartoon version of Lois Lane wants praise for her work instead of her tiny skirt. [[AttentionWhore Notice a]] [[IJustWantToBeLoved pattern]]?
** He went from having an open crush on Creator/WillSmith in the ''Film/IndependenceDay'' review, to having the more 'acceptable' “every guy is jealous of you” feelings in ''Film/AfterEarth''.
** In the ''Top 11 Disney Princess Conspiracy Theories'', he includes himself in wanting to be like one of the Disney princesses.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: The videos after [[spoiler: Ma-Ti's death in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights]], especially the [[DespairEventHorizon Scooby Doo review]] show how much the guilt is affecting him to break down that much.
* InLoveWithYourCarnage: He calls (fourteen year old) Azula a whore in his top 11 best Avatar episodes, but he sure gets very excited when she manipulates both Sokka and her way to the top in the second season finale.
* ImAHumanitarian: Taking TestosteronePoisoning and RealMenEatMeat to the overcompensating extreme, he takes a bite out of a heart in the beginning of ''Film/DemolitionMan''. In ''[[WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot David Bowie's Codpiece]]'', he calls eating “people” delicious.
* ImmortalityHurts: In ''SonOfTheMask'', Evilina strongly implies that to punish him for his stupidity in coming down from the PlotHole, he'll have to live forever. (Until her dad comes for his soul anyway.)
* ImmuneToDrugs: He's taken ketamine, mixtures of nyquil and vicodin, tylenol and hell knows what else, and he hasn't been found dead yet. He also survives the “90% morphine” fuckitall at the end of ''Blues Brothers 2000'', only forgetting his own name for a while whereas commercial!Tamara died from it.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: The “Top 11 Best Avatar Episodes” confirms that his weapon is ''meta'', that being the only way he can protect himself with everything else failing.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: Particularly bad reviews will have him reaching for stuff like Jack Daniels or Jagermeister. ''WesternAnimation/TitanicTheLegendGoesOn'' had him reaching for progressively larger bottles, culminating in one larger than ''he'' was.
** When he reviewed ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTheTitanic'', he had a skyscraper-sized bottle flown down via helicopters.
* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: His screaming rants have become little boy tantrums and Doug revealed he shouts at things because what's on the screen is scaring him, he can't hold onto being the "bad guy" for very long and he's easily prone to crying.
* InelegantBlubbering: His knowledge of a traditional breakdown is one where you're puffy-eyed, sniffing, snorting and can barely talk.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: He finally breaks down and says in the CR crossover that he doesn't want anyone going into his territory because they'd do it better than him, while the "Commercials Special" goes into his lack of self-esteem even more.
** Doug talks about it and Critic's relationship with others in the WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee commentary.
-->I usually find with a lot of insecure people, their closest friends, the people they depend on the most on for love, they can be the nicest to, and they can be the ''cruelest'' to.
* InformedAttractiveness: Reboot has the trope in a weird way. The {{fanservice}} from before has gone down to barely nothing, he's steadily getting more HollywoodThin and any time there's a bit of nudity he looks ashamed of himself right after, but more people in-universe treat him like he's attractive. The Wicked Witch Of The West even uses her "my pretty" line on him, and despite the abuse he's given them, he gets unwanted groping from IC!Rachel and Malcolm.
* InformedAttribute: His AVGN-style song brags that he's the world's biggest and greatest cynic. If you say so.
* InformedFlaw: He's regularly making fun of himself for "screaming every other line", which is funny, but hasn't been relevant for the past few years. [[spoiler: Justified in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, where he uses it as an excuse of why he hates himself and nobody needs him.]]
** A slightly confusing joke in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' has Malice (for the second time) assuming Critic escaped from an asylum, this time because of the way he's dressed. Critic then reacts by telling her when she's dressed weird it's crazy, when he dresses weird it's avant-garde. A messy suit really isn't all that strange. [[spoiler: again explained later, as in ''Film/TheLorax'' he's forced to realize that it has nothing to do with "avant-garde", his clothes were picked out just to appeal to female viewers]].
* InLoveWithLove: He got upset when his many one-night-stands left him after sex, he could never decide whether he wanted commitment or not, he picked people who'll either hurt him or could never give him what he needed and he just kept on going with it all.
* InnocentFanserviceBoy: Deconstructed. He likes teasing his audience and bragging about how cute he is, but he has no idea what he's doing in the real world. As examples, the skirt in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'', drinking with [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] when he's a complete lightweight and getting a stalker partner when he was a teenager.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Much like HorribleJudgeOfCharacter; fine with movies but sucks in real life. He doesn't get that being nice to Luke in front of Film Brain, congratulating the Chick on being a female version of him or assuming Chester didn't need the residuals of the BigLippedAlligatorMoment meme, would most definitely piss them off.
* TheInsomniac: Nyquil and Vicodin together? Ain't so healthy.
* InsultOfEndearment: In ''{{Ferngully}}'', the Chick called him a "stupid sack of shit" in the fondest tone she's ever had.
* InternalizedCategorism: He's Catholic and yet the religion is one of many on the list he's prejudiced against. The reloaded reviews, especially regarding WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, are one of the more literal examples of internalized homophobia, as he ends up bitching a lot about whoever made this (i.e himself) must be gay.
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: He's a girly, overgrown kid with a vast array of cuddly toys.
* InUniverseCatharsis: Shooting things mainly. When he was a child, it was particularly goofy acting, the kind that he would want to bury from the public forever.
* InVinoVeritas: Phelous and Snob get pretty shocked when they see him vulnerably hanging onto The Other Guy and totally wasted in their "Troll 4" review. We aren't, [[JerkassFacade because we've seen it before]].
* IResembleThatRemark:
** He doesn't exactly defend himself well when Phelous jokes that he's an [[Film/ChildsPlay evil, insane, catchphrase-spewing doll]].
** Thanks to his clothes, everyone (in reboot anyway) thinks he's a hipster, and as analyst 1 in ''Film/TheLorax'' points out, it's not like he doesn't have hipster traits.
* IrrationalHatred: Even when there's not a GreenAesop around, he still has almost zero patience for hippies and preachy environmentalists.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Done in a more passive-aggressive style and God knows what the real situation, but even though he feels abandoned by the Chick's obsession with Todd, he tries to push the [[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Boy]] feelings down and wants her to feel okay.
* IWantToBeARealMan: So desperate to be manly in reboot especially, though as he admits in "David Bowie's Codpiece", the only manly thing he feels he has is a penis, which is why he wears tight pants to accentuate it.
* IWasQuiteALooker: He's a cutie and knows it, but if you want this particularly stupid strain of insecurity, just remind him that he's balding.
* IWorkAlone: In ''Bloodrayne'', he hates having to follow the tradition of having Linkara and Spoony review the movie with him, and tells them to piss off with no slapstick like before. They get their comeback with a pie in his face.
* JadedWashout: Best summed up here:
-->'''Critic:''' Look at you, you had such dreams ahead of you, such promise, you were perfect back then -- okay you had stupid glasses, teeth like a chipmunk and a dumb and dumber haircut that only got dumb and dumber -- but you had such hope.
* [[CriminalAmnesiac Jerkass Amnesiac]]: The Reloaded reviews have him constantly attack himself for being "too gay", the friends that had helped him atone in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, make racist comments towards Ma-Ti and not care one bit about said planeteer's death.
* JerkassFacade: Not that he isn't a genuine dick, but coupled with SympatheticPOV, there's no indication that the other characters know what we know about him. Or that he'd be willing to tell them.
** Confirmed in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as when he's either forced or just lets the facade drop, characters not known for their empathy (like Chick or Phelous) become more gentle with him.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He fiercely protects kids but has no patience for annoying dogs, he trashes other people's nostalgia but can't make it through ''Follow That Bird'' without {{squee}}ing, he's demanding of Chester but is the only one to give him money and a place to stay, he's a bastard to people but is so very loyal to the ones he cares about, he has a temper but heartwarming moments come regularly... let's just say this guy can get complicated.
* KaleidoscopeEyes: Like BenedictCumberbatch or Creator/ChrisColfer, his eyes change from blue to green to gray depending on the lighting.
* {{Keet}}: When he's actually enjoying himself.
* KickTheDog: Played for BlackComedy, but how he treats animals - gleeing when dogs have a chance of dying, throwing rocks at pets to see if their owners laugh, chucking a spider through a window because he's scared of it - will remind you that he's a PsychopathicManchild if you ever forget it.
** Hitting a child in the back of her head, and then shouting at her to shut up when she cried, isn't ''exactly'' fitting for someone who once had PapaWolf as his best quality.
** In ''Master Of Disguise'', he tosses out a "happy birthday" to Rachel (which is all she wanted) after he beat the shit out of her and fired her.
** Mocking a [[Creator/AnnaSophiaRobb fourteen year old girl]] for quite a few minutes because she was “too pretty” in ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia''. He lampshading the audience's “wtf” reaction by mocking another kid in ''Film/TheShining'' and letting them know it was at least meant to be a douchey thing that he was just going to be doing now.
** In the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, making it very clear he doesn't care about Joe's abuse, especially given his own history. And when Joe actually wants to explain something, ignores him completely for a picture of naked Emilia Clarke.
** Literally in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lejPief-1EA&feature=youtu.be original]] ''Film/FaceOff'' ending, as Rachel is in a box about to be shipped off to California, and he kicks it while saying "good riddance".
** Even after everything that happened in ''The Guyver'', according to “Lady Death” he still sends Sage rosaries because he doesn't get that, out of the two of them, Sage isn't the one in need of help here.
** In ''The Dark Knight Returns'', gleefully making Brian sad by reminding him that Critic is still more popular after getting caught out for his TookALevelInDumbass moment of thinking Two Face liked the number three when he kept wanting sets of two.
** Knocking Chester out with a baseball bat in “Nostalgia Critic Talks Transformers 4” was bad enough, but hitting him again just for believing his “be nice” speech was just mean.
** In ''Disney Afternoon'', shoving Malcolm's hurt shoulder because Malcolm is suffering from the beatdown Critic gave him and hasn't learned how to repress pain yet.
** Literally again in the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', when he's using Tamara as a footstool and kicks her in the back when she talks.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Usually done with The Last Angry Geek. Like when Geek put massively pricey, not needed shoulder pads on his bill, he said he was going to stop the Geek's show.
* KidAnova: After calling a kinky fantasy starring [[TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles April]] every kid's dream, he defensively reminds people that he was an early bloomer.
* KiddieKid: At first it sounds like he's being sarcastic about acting like a monkey in eighth grade, but then he turns out he actually did.
* KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms: When he watched Cool World as a young'un, he ran for the exit like the screen was on fire.
* KleptomaniacHero: In "Holiday Clusterfuck", he steals a woman's money after the Christmas stress drives her to suicide.
* TheKlutz:
** He managed to get three slashes on his right arm visible at 6.24 in the ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' review, bruises on his mouth in the ''JurassicPark'' review and a big cut across his neck at the beginning of ''Turbo''. In the ''SonOfTheMask'' commentary, Doug asked very strongly to ignore them, especially marks from where he can't seem to stop hurting himself shaving.
** Parodied when Phelous throws a sock at his head. He falls around his house so much that he ends up shooting himself with his gun.
* KnifeNut: In Hyper's second vlog, he threatens to gut her if she doesn't leave him alone. As she is wont to do, she ignores that [[SarcasmMode subtle hint]].
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: He was as shocked as we were when he got to interview the crew of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' and they had actually liked his stuff. Same thing happened for Ebert enjoying his tribute and "Christopher Walken"/"Vincent Price" knowing who he is.
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: The editorials where he fails to do research (like even just reading Romeo and Juliet) yet still does a condescending voice firmly place him in the trope.
* KubrickStare: He often makes this expression (the grimacing kind) while reviewing movies that are frustrating him, most notably in ''Film/{{North}}''.
* LackOfEmpathy: In his amnesia state for the anniversary reviews. He's confused as to why everyone is mourning Ma-Ti's death in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' as a "small Indian boy is no big loss", and he only just barely stops himself from calling WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee-Critic a girl for showing off emotion.
** Back in TestosteronePoisoning-character days, in ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanet'', his initial reaction to “making people feel better” is “who gives a shit?”
** Subtly played in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'', as Critic gets all the memories from Doug's vlogs (which would include the times he talked about having [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-nightmares-and-daydreams-6618162 nightmares]], [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-the-awakening-6617306 how it feels to be a failure]], and [[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-last-airbender-vlogs-the-desert-6612841 knowing about grief]]) and feels pain, but when they meet up and he's back to HotBlooded, ignores Doug's repeated attempts to have Critic actually get his name right.
** Despite having a horrible childhood himself, he cares nothing for Joe having flashbacks to his father abusing him.
** When he kills a Happy Madison audience in ''WesternAnimation/EightCrazyNights'', he fakes a moment of silence for them and deadpans a “that was fun”.
** While trying to get Rachel back in the beginning of ''Film/FaceOff'', he tells her to “throw away your future for my personal needs”.
** Commercial!Malcolm asks him for help because Commercial!Tamara's foaming at the mouth, but Critic doesn't even look at them because he's too busy getting on his Blues Brothers soapbox.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', his love of Christmas destroys the world. He's upset about this for a second until he's more interested in doing a review. He also treats a hurting Tamara like a punching bag, though he gets punished by being eaten by zombie for that.
** Chester dies in ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', and while Beth and Tim are horrified, Critic doesn't care and calls “murder a total aphrodisiac”.
* LargeHam: WordOfGod says that the hamminess comes from WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, Jack Lemmon's performance as Professor Fate in ''Film/TheGreatRace'', and the Red Queen from the Disney version of ''Disney/AliceInWonderland''.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Usually he wouldn't deserve getting beaten and tortured with a pitchfork by an AxCrazy guy who was pretending to be blind, but after stating that he was about to bludgeon said guy to death just for a movie, he kinda does in this instance.
** In 2019, he gets a deliciously nasty punishment for being obsessed with money, rejecting his PlotHole happy ending and being both sexually repressed and abusing his underlings because he needs power: [[spoiler: having the site getting taken over by Snob, and being forced to do nothing but be his SexSlave]].
** In ''WesternAnimation/FoodFight'', his sole motivation for doing the film is to get himself a ton of money and hits, yet when he gets told it didn't work because the net is fickle, he has a meltdown.
** As cruel as it is, he doesn't give a shit when Donnie's mom killed herself for his AesopCollateralDamage, so it makes sense that he NeverGotToSayGoodbye to his own mother.
** In the ''TMNT Christmas Special'', he's been abusing Tamara the whole episode, and gets his just desserts by being attacked by zombie-Malcolm.
* LaughingMad: In ''Film/TheNeverendingStory III'' review, after finishing the movie and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation getting mad]], in ''Chairman Of The Board'' where he laughs manically when he gets the meaning of Edison's name, when ''Film/JingleAllTheWay'' ruins the one funny joke they had and when Zack shows his new haircut in ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. That last one gave him an orgasm.
* LeanAndMean: Post-revival, due to Doug having some weight issues. How the suit just hangs off him doesn't really help. This is probably the reason why he wasn't in usual costume and wore bulkier, manlier clothes in ''Film/TheShining''. Hard to be scared of a swamped twig.
* LeaningOnTheFurniture: In a brief cool moment, he leans against the wall while the Grinch narrator is talking.
* LickedByTheDog: Even though they have their arguments, Chester always calls him nice and will be the first to defend him.
* [[LikeFatherLikeSon Like Mother Like Son]]: His mom was an AlcoholicParent who called him up to insult him, and Dr Smith [[spoiler: his dad]] gets concerned when he's getting hammered in ''IT''.
* LikesOlderWomen: As a sign of how desperate he is (and how pretty the grandma looks in “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”), he asks in said review if any attractive eighty year old women are single and gets roundly booed.
* LimitedWardrobe: According to the drawing in the Willy Wonka episode, he's worn the same clothes since kindergarten.
* LIsForDyslexia: Shared with Doug himself.
-->'''Critic''': It's like if you cross a dyslexic with a complete idiot.
* LiteralMinded: To give an example from ''Film/JamesAndTheGiantPeach''.
--> '''Earthworm''': Remember what your parents said, James!
--> '''Critic''': ..."Look out, a rhino"?
* LittleBitBeastly: Coming back from the future of seahorses gave him a temporary tail. The UsefulNotes/FurryFandom suddenly started liking him then.
* LivingOnBorrowedTime: Post-reboot, he's soulless, has accepted he's going to hell, and two episodes (Maven's "Monster Mash" and his "Why Do We Love Zombies") cast him as a zombie, reminding everyone that he's not meant to be alive. In the former review, Maven literally calls him a "reanimated dead guy".
* LockedOutOfTheLoop:
** He complains in his ''Film/ErnestSavesChristmas'' review that nobody ever tells him things like why the dinosaurs died out.
** During ''Bloodrayne'', in a nod to Doug being on his honeymoon and so not being involved when the firing actually happened, Critic too is totally confused when Linkara starts to go on about the ElephantInTheLivingRoom regarding Spoony.
* LonelyAtTheTop: Ever since coming back from the PlotHole, he's more alone than ever and doesn't even have Rob or other producers trying to look after him. Episodes like ''MasterOfDisguise'' or ''SonOfTheMask'' feature this issue prominently.
* LonelyRichKid: Evidently the only way his parents could give him any kind of love was to give whatever kind of toys he wanted.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: When he was sixteen.
* LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: His romantic life would put [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buff's]] to shame. Even in 2009 he was forced to admit that his sex life is a complete clusterfuck.
-->'''Critic''': Ain't love a bitch?
* LoserProtagonist: He lives with his abusive mother, has a load of issues, his job is the only life he has and the other one was being a CrustyCaretaker, doesn't particularly have a lot of talent and has NoSocialSkills. The knowledge of all this hits him like a ton of bricks in ''ScoobyDoo'' and he spends WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee trying to fix it.
* LovableCoward: He gets freaked out constantly and driven to tears by things he could just turn off, but he's fun to watch.
* LovableNerd: Being played by [[NiceGuy D]][[{{Keet}} o]][[{{Adorkable}} u]][[MeanCharacterNiceActor g]] certainly helps.
* LoveBeforeFirstSight: It's lucky that Lindsay!Chick had so much chemistry with him, but from the way he acted in the "Search For The Nostalgia Chick", he was going to be in love with whatever woman won.
* LoveMartyr: From his knowledge of how abusive relationships work, it's safe to say he's had experiences with going back to a horrible partner. PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/JurassicWorld'' as a mini-skit has him being done with the JP sequels' “abuse” and finally leaving before the former film's climax brings him back.
* LovesTheSoundOfScreaming: Soulless getting tortured because of him gets a grim but happy smile, and that's what we end ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' review on.
* LoveRedeems: Disney can bring him back from being a psychopath and his enjoyment of Christmas can never be broken.
* LustObject: Spoony has lust for everyone, but he's ''really'' proud to have Critic as a conquest. And we're guessing he didn't blackmail others or break into their houses.
** The Hyper Fangirl storyline is all about how he's one for said fangirl, which he's violently against to the point of threatening to kill her for not leaving him alone.
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: His temper usually builds up using this method.
* MadeASlave: In 2019, Snob takes over the site and Critic is forced to do nothing but serve him sexually.
* MadeOfIron: Lampshaded (and meta'd) in “The Best Avatar Episodes” when Critic complain-asks how his body can take so much abuse.
* TheMadHatter: Prime!Critic was a ReluctantPsycho and wanted to be better, Nu!Critic is more sadly accepting/embracing his growing crazy (partly because he has more power) and openly says at the end of ''Film/GhostRider'' review that "a new year of madness is on the way".
** Lampshaded in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' when the CuteAndPsycho Malice assumes three times that he's escaped from a mental asylum, and Critic never gets offended like a normal person would be.
** Lampshaded loudly and violently at the end of “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”, where Critic is free from sedation chains and it morphs him into an AxCrazy Riddler rip-off who sings about how much he 'loves' Christmas.
* MadnessMakeover: “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” does it a bit differently. Sedated Critic is in a safe jumper, with sparkling eyes and a pretty smile, openly saying he needs to be marketable. When he's free from this, he doesn't go into normal clothes with SanitySlippage or anything, but all the batshit coming out at once turns him into the Riddler.
* MadnessMantra: All he could write while watching ''Film/BioDome'' was "why why why why why why...", and in ''Film/DropDeadFred'', after the friend praises the lead for her craziness: "No! No! No! No! No! No!..."
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Shows this in "What's Up With All The Princess Hate", assuming that most women want to be called "girls" while showing Music/BritneySpears and Creator/KimKardashian (who both have made mistakes, but the latter especially has worked on encouraging young girls to be more business-savvy), but acknowledging that there are exceptions while showing a business-woman. Who is still attractive with a giant pouty lip-glossed mouth.
* MagneticHero: In a stereotypically feminine way. No matter how much the others like hurting him, no matter how dickish he can get, if there are tears they'll get sucked right in and want him to be okay.
* [[FemaleMisogynist Male Misandrist]]: Oddly (given what [[StrawFeminist she's]] [[DoesNotLikeMen like]]), he's complained more about MaleGaze, the standard [[NobleMaleRoguishMale stereotypes]], the WhiteMaleLead trend and apparent "what about teh menz" feelings in movies more than the Chick ever has.
* {{Manchild}}: [[WordOfGod Doug]] seems to put the Critic's mental age at about twelve. A few examples of this being he still believes in Santa, hiding under the desk when he's afraid and he also still eats at Chuck E. Cheese's. Lampshaded in “Rise Of The Commercials”, where he's too busy laughing to say anything about the women's douching commercials, and demands to go to the next one because he's too immature.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** In "The Review Must Go On", as he wears Doug down and doesn't care that he's hurting him, insult-threatens him when Doug actually does try leaving, brightens up when he gets what he wants, but goes low and threatening again when Doug has another condition.
** He succeeds for a while in ''Film/GhostDad'' being awful to Tamara and Malcolm, but fails when he decides to tell them everything, as even Tamara points out. Whether this comes from extreme stupidity or masochism (or both) is left unanswered.
* ManOfAThousandVoices: Every episode he does will feature at least one impression or fake accent. He's usually very good at them, but his MorganFreeman voice sounds nothing like the man.
* MarriedToTheJob: Talking about Zelda in the cartoon, he tells her to back off pushing away loved ones so she can work more because he owns that.
* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: Feminine Boy to the Nostalgia Chick's Masculine Girl. He also acted as the Feminine Boy to ObscurusLupa in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage:
** To the Hyper Fangirl. Not because he has any feeling towards her, but he doesn't help her deluded viewpoint when he pretends to be her friend (because he likes rejecting her attention), threatens to stalk her back (because he thought that would scare her) or when he admits to her that he wears silk boxers ([[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking because she asked and he's a vain puppy]]).\\
In a con panel, when she's forced him to “[[DoubleEntendre build a snowman]]” with her (to clarify he even asked her would any answer make her leave him alone and she said no), he gives her a hug and skips off with her, and then runs back alone after pushing her off the balcony.\\
The way he tells it, it was ShowSomeLeg to placate her and he wants to pawn her off to anyone he can because she's awful, but making her his silent business partner probably wasn't a good idea.
* MeanBoss: Deconstructed. Whenever someone's done something that's more his area or something's already done, he'll pop up and be a pain in the ass. However, he answers to puppet-master The Other Guy, he'll crumble and have a breakdown under any type of argument, he's revealed that he does this because he's so deeply insecure and when he [[YankTheDogsChain thinks]] Lupa listened to what he had to say, he was the most optimistic about life that he's ever been. Rachel tried to kill him for forgetting her birthday as part of the running joke. [[spoiler: Critic knocked her out and fired her.]] Crosses over with PsychopathicManchild when it comes to Malcolm and Tamara, as he routinely forces them to dress up in childish costumes and play along with his crazy, and taken to new heights in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', as he makes them find out how the three sea shells work, and says that he has two spinal cord removal machines, one for each of them.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor:
** Doug Walker is ''nothing'' like his pathetic, crazed character in real life. Some of the commentaries get bizarre, as the Critic is yelling at the movie for being stupid and Doug is yelling at the Critic for being a dick.
** The difference between the more Doug-ish editorials and the actual Critic reviews can lead to some amusing moments, like the editorial about “Did Tom And Jerry Kill Themselves” discusses more sensitivity to suicide/race/gender jokes and how it's a good thing [[note]]Plus in an ''BMO Noire'' vlog, he went as far as to say he had to have offensive jokes explained to him and was called stupid when he had no idea why they were meant to be funny[[/note]], but ''Film/DemolitionMan'' has a lot of complaining about the internet being too sensitive and how it's taking away rights.
* MeaningfulName: It's the job that he hates, and he doesn't even think himself as a good critic.
* MessianicArchetype: [[spoiler: After he took on the PlotHole]]. He'd still snark, but protecting the universe did his temper, self-worth issues, intelligence and maturity a world of good. Completely reversed when he came back down though.
* MetaGuy: Deconstructed. He came back through tormenting his creator, and while straddling the fourth wall has given him more power and made him more dismissive of his own character and plot devices, it's also made him sadder and crazier because it's a defence mechanism that doesn't always work.
* MilesGloriosus: Aang killed Shyamalan in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' and the Devil killed him in ''{{Devil}}'', but Critic (who was the DistressedDude both times) takes all the credit for it in ''Film/AfterEarth''.
* MilesToGoBeforeISleep: He admits in the ''Film/{{Gordy}}'' review that he's so tired.
* MilitaryBrat: While his dad's occupation ([[spoiler: outside of being a spider]]) was never mentioned, he moved around a lot and Doug's a navy brat in real life.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: It's been said by fans and by Doug, he's far more entertaining and interesting when he's being a victim or breaking down.
* MisterSeahorse: WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick forced him to get preggers through fairy sex one time.
* MommasBoy: A rare tragically-funny one, with a few [[ParentalIncest uncomfortable]] [[OedipusComplex jokes]] here and there. Him getting a phone call that she died is genuinely PlayedForDrama, and even when the JumpScare RunningGag comes back he's screaming about the unfairness.
* MoodSwinger: He's a bit like a Hollywood-style manic depressive. Particularly evident in the first part of ''Disney Afternoon'', where he goes from giddy excited over the shows to anger just when the (younger) Malcolm and Tamara dare to not know exactly what he's talking about.
* MotiveDecay: Critic's reason for bashing Stephen King went from “he's a great writer but the adaptations can be really silly so let's point those flaws out” (The Langoliers) to “I just want to rip on something that's entertaining to people” (The Shining). The TookALevelInJerkass change was heavily lampshaded, to the point where he has to go catatonic when he realizes that King did something better than Kubrick.
* MotorMouth: One of the issues with his LetsPlay is that he never stopped talking. Granted, ''Bart's Nightmare'' is not much to look at, but quiet moments in [=LPs=] are encouraged.
* TheMovieBuff: It's part of his job.
* MrExposition: Is a very bored one to both Evilina in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' and Malice in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', as they don't know Hollywood's relationship with Dr. Seuss and Creator/TimBurton's formula respectfully.
* MrFanservice: He's cute and knows it, suffers well, likes taking his shirt off, enjoys making orgasm noises, has given a blowjob to a joystick, looks very nice in a [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights short tunic with no pants or tights]] and in the advertisement for Geek Fight, he says he won't get naked for the cards... yet.
* MrImagination: He manages to outdream Stanley in the ''ATrollInCentralPark'' review. Only his dreams are slightly more... painful to the titular troll. And when he can't stop himself from imagining the babies between Goliath and Elisa, he bitches that his mind never does what he tells it to.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Who in the right mind has coffee before going to sleep?
* MyBelovedSmother: "Hey, she's my world!" But like Ask That Guy, he can't stop himself from having a fantasy about her dying every now and then.
* MyBiologicalClockIsTicking: In late 2011/early 2012, there's been a reference in a lot of episodes about wanting to be or acting like a father.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: He has a crying fit when his Nintendo disappears after he stops playing it.
** In his third Nostalgic Commercials special, he orders an off-screen minion to inject five people with diabetes (however ''that's'' supposed to work...) then stops and says, "Dear God, I think I might be horrible."
** Accidentally killing Film/MaryPoppins, his first childhood icon, crushes him.
** After making the obligatory gay joke about Bert And Ernie, he breaks down to all the cast of ''Series/SesameStreet'' and apologizes for trying to review the first show he ever saw.
** The lyrics Lindsay used at the end of "Thanks For The Feedback" implies this:
--> "Baby come back, you can blame it all on me. I was wrong..."
** He breaks down immediately after shooting Floss for no reason other than getting a sad ending.
** If he didn't regret forcing Doug to bring him back by the time Santa Christ decided to be vindictive to him, then there's no doubt he did when the devil's daughter decided it was crueler to leave him alive.
** In an example where he hadn't done anything wrong, hearing that his dead mom didn't tell him about her illness because she knew he was a {{workaholic}} makes him look like he's dangerously close to crying right there and then.
** Twice in ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''. First he betrays Santa Christ and leaves crying, and then when Santa Christ flips the bird at him and he tells the torturers to carry on, it cuts back to present day where he calls the flashbacks gross and gratuitous.
** In a moment of pouty lucidity, he realizes at the end of ''Disney Afternoon'' that bringing Malcolm's mom in “to be authentic” is probably going too far.
** In ''Spawn'', he has a moment of regret for helping the Devil take over the world, but when it's revealed the latter's army is a load of Kermits, he assumes it won't be so bad.
* MyGreatestFailure: Ma-Ti's death in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' made him disquietingly obsessed with responsibility and consequences.
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* AbusiveParents: His parents (and various mentions of other family members suggest they weren't too great either) broke him really bad, making him an easily scared, naive, weepy PsychopathicManchild who thinks parents shouting at each other happens all the time and has children getting hurt as a BerserkButton, but they've done a couple of nice things for him that keep them out of "totally irredeemable" territory. Plus both of them have died (at different points) and he sounded completely destroyed hearing and talking about it.
-->'''Critic:''' Yeah, I remember the last time I said "this is the nineties, old man" to my Dad... (''shakily and looking traumatized'') i-it really was the last time.
* {{Adorkable}}: His awkwardness has a tendency to ''really'' come out during the "Old vs. New" segments and his intense, enduring love for Christmas was very sweet until Doug went DarkerAndEdgier and twisted said love into [[http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-grandma-got-run-over-by-a-reindeer/ psychosis]]. He's still a nerd who tends to get enthusiastic over certain things and it's endearing to watch, like how he was so excited to review ''Lady in the Water''. Plus he has an [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Elsa]] clipboard.
* AesopAmnesia:
** In a post-PlotHole review of ''{{Twilight}}'', he says it made him realize he can't keep obsessing over the past, needs to move on, and wants to go back to being the universe instead of having a physical body. Come “The Review Must Go On” and all that's forgotten about.
** Mara Wilson is gonna be angry that you had to learn about child stars ''[[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-review-must-go-on-6510378 again]]'', Critic... Even then you didn't learn, agreeing with Zordon in ''Turbo'' that all child stars know how to do is go crazy, being mean to Anna Sophia Robb by focusing on her looks in a negative way instead of her acting, and adding a {{rimshot}} to mocking fun of Dakota Fanning.
*** Lampshaded when he lazily says "insert Mara Wilson revenge joke here" in "Top 12 Santa Clauses" but then a clip of her laughing still scares him.
** In ''ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', he actually talked to people and took the chance to make friends/strengthen the relationships he already had, not to mention helping everyone in the PlotHole. With the reboot he's back to being alone (not even interacting with Chester), the Santa Christ call implying out of guilt.
** His very potent determination to never hurt people again (and succeeding at being a BigGood) was replaced with maiming cats, more personal insults, hitting kids, suggesting torture that not even the devil thought of, and beating three people to near-death with a baseball bat.
** His completely forgetting that everyone has a right to like what they want, including TMZ, and calling anyone who did out as worthless virgins (to put it nicely), had real-life consequences and hurt [[http://tgwtgsecrets.tumblr.com/post/51729890214/a-defense-of-tmz-from-an-avid-fan a friend's feelings]].
** His SK-TBF year had him learning the benefit of other people's opinions, culminating in very innocently asking Roger how things can be liked but still widely mocked. ''BridgeToTerabithia'' has him outright say "Well, I'm not one to disagree with other people's opinions... unless they're stupid and not mine.", and ''The Guyver'' review has him ignoring Sage's calling him out of being more insulting than he was.
** Lampshaded anvil-hard in the video he sent to the Nerd roasting. “Even though we ended at a good place in To Boldly Flee, I still hate you!”
** He says "a director can make a bad film" in his ''AI'' soapbox speech, but Burton very nearly manages to teach him that lesson in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', fucking up in Critic's eyes before it can sink in. It's so CallBack-like this may be intentionally using the trope.
*** A little more understated and understandable because major SanitySlippage, but "Kubrick's not perfect" was made a major deal in the ending of ''AI'', so it's a little odd that he has to relearn that at the end of ''The Shining''.
** At the end of ''Princess Diaries 2'', he “learns” not to stay in the constructs of his gender. That he had to learn this at all is news to the audience, as even in early days being a girly brat was always a big part of Critic's personality. (Might be justified with his admittance in the ''Uncanny Valley'' review that he's dying from repression, but doubtful.)
** Ironic considering he actually referenced ''Film/MoulinRouge'' in the ''Film/MammaMia'' review, but the “guilty pleasures” song appears to have been driven out of his brain. He has huge complaints about women liking ''Princess Diaries II'' and ''Film/MammaMia'', even though people who enjoy them usually say they know they're dumb but they're fun popcorn movies usually made for eye candy purposes, and they like plenty of actual good stuff too.
** More bittersweet than usual in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' as after a sad speech about changing, self-loathing and how at least if you're aware of the bad things you've done you shouldn't hate yourself so much, he goes right back to arguing with Tamara and Malcolm and treating them badly.
* AgentScully: Despite all of the unexplained, magical things that have happened to him, he still demands logic in the movies he reviews.
* AggressiveSubmissive: A force of nature personality coupled with an ExtremeDoormat need to be loved will make you one of these. In PQH, he's technically the General's boss, but tells him he's into being leashed and wants to be invited to a BDSM party.
* AintTooProudToBeg: He'll even whore himself out as long [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry you]] don't play another song.
** Variant in ''Future's End'' when Snob tells him in basic terms to do his SexSlave job again. He breaks down crying immediately, but kneels down and unzips anyway.
** In one of Hyper's post-kidnapping vlogs, he in exhausted tone asks her if he does what she tells him to do will she finally go away. She says no and he shows some leg before shoving her out the window.
* TheAlcoholic: Even though even [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] would probably laugh at him for not being able to handle his drink, booze pops up a lot in his show. In ''It'', Dr Smith [[spoiler: his father]] gets concerned because he's drinking too much.
* AlcoholicParent: His mother calls him up when she's been drinking and insults him horribly. It's happened so often that he doesn't mind, and he still looks completely traumatized when he's told that she died. Though that doesn't stop him from mentioning it in later reviews, she got drunk at her book club apparently.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Gender-inverted. He has a MasochismTango-like relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, he sees no problem with the attractive inmates from ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' snuffing him out, got attracted to Tamara after she tortured him and gave her a job to make his “I just watch him because he's pretty hurting” demographic happy, and his prom date ended up raping him. Hyper Fangirl actually had RightForTheWrongReasons, thinking he would love her because she pretended to like the things he did, but Doug saying in commentary that Critic had been close to falling for her because she kidnapped and hurt him.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: What gets him into so much trouble with Rachel, Malcolm, Tamara and the Hyper Fangirl. He wants them around to be abused and stroke his ego, but when they either snap from mistreatment or (in the case of the last) feel like they have a chance with him, he gets pissed off.
* AlterEgoActing: The Critic's name is Doug, but he's still a fictional character whom Doug Walker plays.
* AManIsNotAVirgin: The Critic seems to have something against virgins. He said that the protagonist of ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' needs to get laid, in the Nerd movie review he assumes anyone who abuses women online for being a “fake gamer girl” just hasn't been laid yet, called out Rafe of ''Film/PearlHarbor'' for holding off sex to his girlfriend, and used the word "virgin" as an insult. Plus in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', just moments after joking that Website/{{Tumblr}} is full of oversensitive people, he makes another joke that they could never get laid in real life. Amusing/ironically enough, he hates ''Film/HocusPocus'' for “virgin shaming”, though Doug admitted later that it wasn't as bad as he originally thought.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Maven insults him by calling him a "reanimated dead guy", he randomly changes into a South Park version of himself out of anger at the end of "Top 11 South Park Episodes", the "Why Do We Love Zombies" title card averts BeautyIsNeverTarnished by having his face decay, and [[spoiler: he manages to be fine with being burned alive]] in "Ghost Dad". Shyam-amon calls him "mortal" in "Devil", but he's not exactly the best judge.
* AmazonChaser: Put an ActionGirl in a movie (but don't chickify her) and he'll fall in love. Tamara in ''Film/TheWickerMan'' uses this to her advantage, as while she's cutesy and silly with Snob and Spoony, she gaslights and tortures Critic and it gets her a job with him.
* AmIJustAToyToYou:
** His screaming at the Chick about does she even care about him goes into this trope when WordOfGod confirmed they had sex in the ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' review.
** An InterplayOfSexAndViolence version at the end of ''Film/TheWickerMan'', as he runs after Tamara to yell at her... not for torturing him, but for leaving afterwards and not giving him a chance to give her a job because views go up when he's in pain.
* AnimalsHateHim: In the mindfucks list, a toy puppy turns into a giant gorilla to kill him. Close to being justified, as whenever there's a movie with an animal in the lead, he usually wants them dead.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Played with. He's annoying, but The Other Guy keeps him in place through disproportionate means. (Like punching him back into a review)
** That said the Critic gives at least as good as he gets considering that he repeatedly berated and beat up Rob without any real provocation in his review of ''Franchise/XMen''.
* AntiHero: He's arguably one of the few characters to be anywhere on the scale, depending on the episode in question:
** He's a ClassicalAntiHero most of the time.
** He eventually settles on KnightInSourArmor in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee since he has genuinely altruistic motives and no real KickTheDog moments other than indulging Chick's hate of Lupa by giving her Lupa's number so they could prank call her. Earlier on...
** He arguably leaned towards a PragmaticHero since Suburban Knights, as he genuinely cares for his team mates and shows both courage and surprisingly strong leadership in the final battle.
** He ventures into UnscrupulousHero & NominalHero when he's angry, and has stayed here since coming back from the PlotHole as he's the devil's favorite. Lampshaded in ''Spawn'' when Kermit-Devil wants him to be the leader of the demon army ''because'' he's so awful now.
* TheAntiNihilist: The world sucks and he's all too aware that he's useless, but he still wants to do good.
-->'''Critic''': It's like trying to save a sinking ship with a bandaid. Anything I try to do would be completely pointless. '''Save me'''.
* AntiRoleModel: Doug tries to make it very clear that you ''shouldn't'' think of Critic as a badass or someone to look up to.
* ApologeticAttacker: "TO WAR! ...whenever you have the time."
* ApologizesALot: Doug's tendency to feel guilty for stuff that isn't remotely his fault soaks into Critic's persona the most, or at least until Donnie came into the picture, and after he died, Critic isn't apologizing for anything as Sage found out.
* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: Post-reboot, one of the most meta examples. [[http://ozscarface.deviantart.com/art/Who-controls-whom-355796707?q=favby%3ADouglasDarien%2F32971852&qo=106 This art favorited by Doug]] sums it up, as Critic is still broken and pathetic, but he treats his underlings like his dolls, characters are created to make things go his way, he can insult Doug whenever he wants, and he doesn't always fail when he rebels against actually being a character.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' he merges with the PlotHole threatening the Awesomeverse and sacrifices his physical body but essentially becomes the universe itself.]]
* TheAtoner: His accidental admission that he'd killed a Reno hooker by accident gives a new spin on his anger with the UnproblematicProstitution in ''Film/MilkMoney''. Less common sense, more trying to make up for what he did. This trait is especially apparent in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as even the trailers had his lines about finally having a chance to make up for his mistakes.
-->'''Optimus Prime''': I died for your sins.\\
'''Critic''': And clearly I will only die for mine.
** Subverted in ''Film/FoodFight'', when he at least gets that he's being punished for sins he's done, but blames himself for things he had nothing to do with. ''Fatal Fight'', the music from WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee when he killed himself, provides the anvil for anyone not getting it.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: As part of HypocriticalHumor, he gets distracted by a housefly in ''Ferngully II''. In other reviews, he'll get caught up in a sketch if the movie is too dull. Doug has stated in multiple vlogs that he's almost certain he has ADD, so that would explain why Critic can't seem to keep much focus on anything. There's a cute moment in ''The Uncanny Valley'' review where he goes all out on this trait.
-->'''Critic''': [[SarcasmMode Well that's something reviewers don't do]], lose focus. Like the time I saw Vin Diesel at the premiere of ''Fred 3'', neither of us would admit why we were actually there but- you might have noticed an edit there, because I got distracted with nothing to do with what we're talking about, my apologies, now let us return to our review ''Wicker Man II: I Was Really Ghost Rider''- you might have noticed another edit there but that happens when you have years of sexual repression building up and then all you can think about is Jessica Lange dressed up as a snowman with her big- you might have noticed another edit... and I'm just gonna stop there.
** In the ''Star Wars'' edition of Hotshot, he admits he's feeling bouncier than normal and is having a new idea every few minutes.
** In the “trying to look cool in leather” ending of ''Film/TheMatrix'', he gets distracted by Jim walking by, and Malcolm has to grab his chin in order to get him back to 'reality'.
** In his review of ''Film/CatsandDogs'', he quickly loses focus when he has a piece of string in front of him or is told to fetch a ball.
** In the review of his home movies, he unknowingly thinks his child self really needs ritalin.
** When the grandfather in ''Spy Kids 3D'' gets distracted by a butterfly, he gets annoyed because of the "reinforcing ADD stereotypes".
* AttentionWhore: The Nostalgia Chick gently bitches about his hogging all the limelight when he shows up dressed as Creator/TimCurry in her review of ''TheWorstWitch''. The beginning of ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' has him lapping up the praise of a huge crowd and choir music (because he's doing another commercials) like he's some kind of messiah. In “Old vs New: Spider-Man”, this is the reason why he doesn't just unfriend Hyper and be free of her guilt-tripping. By the time he's realized his own safety is more important, it's way too late.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: In the TGWTG universe, he's the boss. He gets walked over a lot, however, so that it really doesn't mean much. Phelous doesn't even remember his CatchPhrase. And while he's 'better' (as in his abuse works more to keep them under his control) with Malcolm/Tamara/Rachel, they still loathe him and think he's an idiot who deserves to be tortured. Even with Tamara and Malcolm, when Rob's there (and they're siding with him) Critic has no authority over anyone again, empty threat-ing them that he can buy and sell them like ABBA's dignity.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: This was the lyric playing when he tried getting up the courage to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback".
-->Oh, but he watches so sadly. How can he tell her he loves her? Yes, he would give his heart gladly...
** In a more toxic fashion, while he treats Malcolm and Tamara horribly, a lot of episodes (especially Matrix Month) show that he needs them and trusts them to take care of him.
* AxCrazy: Can be set off into crazed violence by sufficiently poor movies, and is pretty manic-depressive otherwise. Gets worse after he has to come down from being happy in the PlotHole, as [[spoiler:it's implied that he decides to check himself into an asylum after a particularly homicidal breakdown in the ''Master of Disguise'' review.]] Later on, his threat to Sci-Fi Guy to do a crossover with him (and do all the work) or else next time they're at a con he'll slit guy's wrists and leave him in a bathtub, is... ''special'' in creepy. ''Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'' is entirely based on what will happen if you control him too much and then suddenly take the RestrainingBolt away.
* BabysitterFromHell: Despite having babysit kids fine in the past, he treats Evilina horribly in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. Which should be fitting considering where she lives, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it very much.
** Expands beyond Evilina in ''Jurassic Park III'', as he says that whenever he feeds babies, he leaves the food five feet away from them because they're lazy and should work for their own meal.
* BackFromTheDead: Commits a HeroicSuicide in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but convinces Doug to bring him back in "The Review Must Go On". He regrets this by ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', but Evilina tells him he has to stay alive because killing him off got complaints the first time.
* BadassUnintentional: When he's ''trying'' to do anything, he's a FailureHero. By accident however (or when he's pissed enough), he's exploded cities, come back to life after getting killed and can tell the death star to blow up a DVD.
* BadDreams: PlayedForLaughs until WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee hit, where he was having nightmares about the PlotHole and waking up in a panic every time.
** By ''Jurassic Park III'', he still gets them, but he also gets “night-memes” - memes that he never wanted to do again but keep popping up anyway.
** A theme in “Is Eyes Wide Shut Artsy Porn”, where he explains nightmares as “scary faces in the dark exposing you at your very core” and after Will gets a rape threat, asks “how many nightmares have you had where you were naked and exposed to everyone?”.
** Used as a pretty telling sign of PTSD in “The Sixth Day”, where he casually says he wakes up every morning screaming and swearing from a bad night.
* BadLiar: [[SarcasmMode Sure]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs&feature=related they're treating you well, Critic]].
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: In the Transformers-Bratz arc, after he wakes up from getting chloroformed, he hides angrily in the bushes, shoots the Chick with a tranquilizer dart and sinisterly says it's his turn. It turns out that he just wanted to pretend he had power while trying to give her a self-esteem boost.
* BaitTheDog:
** For the first fifteen minutes of Lupa's “A Talking Cat” review, he seems nicer and more toned down from his comeback self; lets her talk the most, actually apologizes when a joke makes her sad, and submissively backs down from annoying her when she threatens to punch him. [[spoiler: but then in the halfway point he shoots her, and while she shoots him back later, he does it again before the episode ends]]
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he's bored and lets Erod runs the show for the first half of the review. But when Erod goes to bust the dvd early, he shoots the hammer out of his hand, reminds him who everyone comes to see and displays electric powers. He's also completely fine with killing Bay even when he thinks Bay is human and torturing Erod for not much reason.
* BasementDweller: It's a lovely house, but he lived with his mom until she died.
* BastardBoyfriend: In his mind at least. He's creepily enjoying descending on Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', sees nothing wrong with smacking Tamara around (she at least is his {{dominatrix}} too), is DrunkWithPower {{gaslighting}} Doug in “The Review Must Go On”, and wants a clone of himself as a SexSlave in “The Sixth Day”. Plus he owns a whip.
* BeardOfSorrow
* BeautifulAllAlong: We've seen him as a fairly {{gonk}}y dork as a young teenager, and he complains about being bullied because he looked and acted too much like ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', but he's grown up into a traditional PrettyBoy.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Parodied for silly laughs. With all the suicides, shots to the head and occasional getting the shit kicked out of him, you'd think he'd at least be a little scarred. Averted in the “Why Do We Love Zombies” title card though, with his eyes [[{{motif}} milky white]], skin greying and blue, and a ton of lesions. He ''is'' truly a zombie after all. While it never actually happens, a lot of Zod's threats to Critic are heavily based on averting this, with EyeScream, “spilled organs”, castration and general mutilation until he no longer looks human.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis:
** He went from an ManChild defender of kids due to his own past, to having no idea how they work ("so what do kids do? make tofu or something?") and smacking Evilina hard enough to make her cry while she had just slapped him lightly. He gets a lot worse later, as he comes in from ''killing'' a little girl in Maven's "Monster Mash" review.
** His new BabysitterFromHell side also continues in ''Film/JurassicPark III'', saying that whenever he feeds a baby, he puts the food five feet away from them because “lazy bastards should work for their own meal”. On a accidentally accurate note, he gives an example of a child nothing but oranges, which cause acid rashes and they can choke on them.
** Letting Malcolm get tortured by Dante Basco's fire powers and literally telling him “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” is a total 180 to his heartbroken Kirk impersonation in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''.
** ''Turbo'' dedicates about five minutes to how he's much more interested in being cruel to get results, instead of doing the honorable thing like he used to.
** The only way Rob can get saving the world through to him in ''Film/FantasticFour2005''review is appealing to his selfishness. And while ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' still had an element of selfishness, it was the self-loathing kind and this was the guy who stood up to Mechakara with no SecurityCling.
** ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' being mostly a ''Franchise/StarWars'' analogy, he was the hero who The Emperor (played by Rob) wanted dead and gone. Even before that, in the ''Titanic'' movie review, he was the troubled Darth Vader to Rob's controlling Emperor. In the ''Star Wars'' version of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', ''he's'' the Emperor (with the General as his Darth Vader) and relishes the power.
* BecauseImGoodAtIt: Variant. He relates to the Santa in "A Christmas Story" because he too hates his job but exploits it because ''other'' people think he's good at it.
* BecauseISaidSo:
** In the phone call with Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', where she's not even doing anything wrong, just phoning because of the GuiltComplex he's made her have, he loses his temper and makes up rules to “keep her from distracting him”.
** Turns out to be the case in ''Film/GhostDad'', as he's making up rules for Tamara/Malcolm to humiliate themselves with to punish them for torturing him.
* BeingGoodSucks: His very conscious decision to atone for his mistakes and sacrifice himself to save the world got turned into a parodox by RealLifeWritesThePlot, so he gave up and TookALevelInJerkass. Referenced in ''Is There Another Good Shyamalan Movie?'', as there's a notable pleading tone to his voice when he talks about how YouCantFightFate fucks over people who hadn't even wanted to be mean. There's also his great umbrage at ''Film/TheChristmasTree'' having the moral of “you always win when you are good”.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil:
** Sexual variant. The Spooning storyline continues in "The Strangest But Best Couples", when he acts [[spoiler: or at least tries, he gets creeped on fast in punishment for his homophobia]] like Spoony in the series.
** All the times he's been a DistressedDude, Hyper kidnapping him being the final straw, resulted in him being the kidnapper in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', holding people captive and forcing them to be his 'friends'.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Inverted. Whenever religion gets brought up, the ditziness is downplayed and he'll have intelligent things to say.
* BeneathTheMask: He's really scared of someone manipulative going inside his head and finding out all the nasty stuff he's feeling, so puts on a JerkassFacade and settles for complaining about being NotEvilJustMisunderstood.
** Enforced in “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”, as a chill patch makes him cute and safe and marketable about his love for Christmas, but when Tamara rips it off he turns into an embodiment of his NightmareFuelStationAttendant traits.
* BerserkButton:
** The "Bat Credit Card" and ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' drive him to psychopathic rage. By ''Christmas With The Kranks/Bunny Boobies'', both still make him angry, but he's more pissed off and upset that people keep wanting him to do both {{freak out}}s over and over. (Doug said in a 2012 interview that the former meme has given him a twitchy eye.)
** He can't stand children getting abused or having a film treating them like idiots and women not having the power they should have.
** He also hates it when a parent death is treated solely as a plot device with little emotional resonance.
** Movies based on historical tragedies, like the animated ''Titanic'' films and ''Pearl Harbor'', get a lot of hate for mis-portraying real disasters where thousands of people died for the sake of narrative or dramatic convenience.
** Since the show began again in 2013, the Critic ''despises'' [=TMZ=].
** Even after the reboot, he hates it when people bring up ''Doug''. In the "Disney Afternoon" episode, when Malcolm said how good ''Doug'' was, there was a cut and Malcolm nursing a black eye and couldn't feel much in his mouth.
** If a movie has heavy-handed symbolism and religious metaphors, the Critic will show it no mercy.
** He would also kindly like you to not say the proper name of ''[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales DT]]'' because the [[EarWorm theme song]] finally got out of him.
** Despite him lampshading that they ended in a sweet place at WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, a little girl gets beaten to death (offscreen) because she mistook him for the Nerd.
** One that he will dedicate entire episodes to are frivolous copyright claims to silence criticism that could hurt profits and reputation. See: Tommy Wiseau, Hollywood in general...
** Anyone but himself bringing up ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Dr Hack at the end of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' got a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for saying the show's concept would make him money, and Yo in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' uses it to intentionally make him ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject.
** He never really enjoyed it, but TestosteronePoisoning seems to genuinely anger him in reboot. Even when he's into it he feels guilty and complains that he doesn't want to fit into his gender.
** Ever since Hyper kidnapped him, he hates people being too calm about being held hostage. A lot of '' The THIRD Animated Titanic Movie'' is him getting loudly upset about it.
* {{BFG}}: To demonstrate that he's got more power, "A Talking Cat" and "Disney Afternoon" swap out his small iconic handgun with a bigger, scarier gun.
** The gun he uses to threaten Hyper Fangirl with in her third vlog is big enough to actually scare her into leaving him alone for once.
* TheBGrade: Inverted. An A- was such a rare occasion that he got a trip to Chuck E Cheese whenever that happened. The bullying and always moving to new places probably had something to do with it.
* BigBad: The closest thing to one in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} [[spoiler: and "The Review Must Go On".]]
* BigEater: If all the junk food in the first Commercials Special is any indication, especially as he'd been sitting in the same place and stuffing himself for a ''week''.
* BirthdayHater: Odd for such a LonelyRichKid, but the only gift-giving holiday he enjoys is Christmas. He also loves Halloween, for slightly [[EthicalSlut different]] [[NightmareFetishist reasons]].
* BiTheWay: [[TransparentCloset Even if he goes back and forth in being okay with it or not]].
** In ''X-Men: Raiders Of The StoryArc'', he basically comes out when he replies to a subtextual conversation with "I thought we were like this because the conservative right said we chose it" in a normal voice.
** In ''Forest Warrior'', despite the [[invoked]] MisaimedFandom of thinking Chuck's homophobia is just misunderstood, Film Brain replies “thought you might” to Critic liking “[[DoubleEntendre hard wood]]”, and Critic tells him at the end that he loves him. “And I do mean in that way”.
** He gleefully mocked part of his audience at the end of “Rise Of The Commercials”, where he innuendoes plenty on how to give good blowjobs, and when that makes them boo instead of the Canada rape jokes, he says he looks forward to losing them as viewers before leaving.
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he's into Nicole Kidman (though as he vehemently says, not as a sixteen year old), Angelo D'Angelo and whoever Kidman's male stunt double is, saying that a guy doing her biking tricks makes his jerking off to it "both more and less awkward".
** DepravedBisexual: Slots into the role a little too well in "The Review Must Go On", as he coos that Doug is cute, rides Mark Wahlberg's fake penis in ''Film/BoogieNights'' just to freak him out, threatens him while calling him 'Tinkerbell' and behaving like he's checking off a lot of items on the DomesticAbuser list.
** The first couple of retooled ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' episodes had him hitting on all the male contestants he kidnapped, and flirting with General Anesthetic, first wanting to be invited to an S&M party and second asking if he looks pretty in a pink tiara.
** AnythingThatMoves: In “The Sixth Day”, he disgusts Sci-Fi Guy by assuming Arnold would “test out” the really creepy doll, and has an Ask That Guy moment when he shrugs and reasons “a mouth is a mouth”. [[spoiler: There are also two Critics in the end (...just go with it) and they both want to fuck each other.]]
* BizarreTasteInFood: He doesn't see the big deal about having a coffee, beer, pepto-bismal, Chinese food and pizza slurpie, or sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hotpockets with lard on the side and butter taken from real liposuctions. No wonder Santa Christ had to cure him from diabetes.
* BlessedWithSuck: ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' calls his increased meta (and reality warping) skills in the reboot “ruining”, which he uses to his advantage but makes him crueler and even more depressed than he was when he didn't know he was a character.
* BloodKnight: A lot more pronounced in reboot. Against his will to be fair to him, as in ''Maximum Overdrive'' he craves the violence, but also doesn't want to be stereotypically male and realizes he should question it. Just doesn't want to.
* BoisterousWeakling: Although the "getting ordered around" bit (and sometimes getting beaten too) [[{{fetish}} doesn't]] bother him.
* BrainlessBeauty: For a time in ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He's been talent-bended so he has no emotion, but it also makes him coincidentally do everything he's told, and sets the blue PuppyDogEyes on full-time.
* BrainsAndBondage: He's a GeniusDitz masochist who loves toppy women. In the first Nerd Rant, he's ''proud'' of how he tortures himself.
-->'''Critic''': So what's the point in seeing The Lost World? For you, none. For me, I'm a glutton for fucking punishment.
** When Tamara is thankful she doesn't have to be the Ana in a 50 Shades review, he complains at her that ballgags are surprisingly comfortable. When she asks how would he know, he lies “...research”.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he's smart enough to keep a HostageSituation going without getting arrested (though in Critic-show he's threatened with it a couple of times) and wants to be on General Anesthetic's leash as well as be invited to one of his play parties.
** Turns out in ''Blade'' that he got his Hotshot kink wish, as he says the bloodbath is meant to be scary, but you can see it at any goth club along with rubber gimps.
* BreakTheCutie: Finally driven home in the "Commercials Special" when he bemoans that he used to have such dreams and promise. And in a more simple use of the trope, any time he gets a seriously bad movie - ''Film/TheNeverendingStory 3'' springs immediately to mind.
** It turns out that the fuck-up lists were breaking him. He stopped fighting it at the beginning of the third episode, and at the end his frustration over ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' leads into a screaming tantrum about everyone being horrible. Even ''Douchey'' feels bad for him.
* BreakTheHaughty: He thinks doing a LetsPlay is going to be '''so''' easy, much easier than actually analyzing something. He really gets proven wrong.
** After his psychotic creeper-dom in "The Review Must Go On", "Son Of The Mask" gets him lower than even the beginning of ''ScoobyDoo''. He's looking through garbage cans for stuff to review, goes back to bitching at the audience for wanting to see him suffer, is constantly scared by the movie to the point of ExhaustedEyebags (which is a first), begs Santa Christ to help him but gets abused, is told he's meant to suffer, suffers a heart attack and doesn't look especially happy about surviving it, begs Satan and his daughter to kill him but gets refused, plus a reference to his WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee death has him crawling on the floor and crying so hard he sounds like he's about to choke.
** Somewhat in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, as he treats Joe terribly and would very much like to think he's Superman given the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' speech playing in his head, but Zod makes him scared, mocks him for a crappy speech and the episode takes no interest in him after he's being held hostage.
* BrilliantButLazy: He knows how to take over the world but doesn't want to tell, and he can learn languages really fast when he's obsessing over something meaningless, but mostly he hasn't got the will or the self-esteem to change his life for the better. He got off his ass and succeeded in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' and a few months after, but even that got retconned.
* BrokenAce: Comes off like this in the reboot. Gets the voice actors to act out Pinky And The Brain splitting up, takes down TMZ, lectures executives constantly on where they're going wrong... is losing more of his mind and is confirmed to hallucinating/reality warping a lot, wants to be back in the PlotHole on several occasions, and has pushed away everyone who once cared about him because he was such an asshole upon return. Lampshaded hilariously harshly at the start of ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'', when the announcer asks why someone of so little worth gets so many favors from famous people.
* BrokenPedestal: With Santa Christ. In ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' he's disappointed to learn that the guy actually has a dark side, and said dark side is mostly focused on being cruel to him.
* BrokenRecord: When Rob is yelling at him (or dragging him off in the alternate scenes) at the end of ''Speed Racer'', mostly all he can do is beg he's sorry over and over in a tearful high pitched voice.
* BrokenTears:
** ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' has his crying disturbingly realistic for once, with choking sounds, a red face and dropping out of camera to the floor so nobody can see him.
** His crying in ''Film/FoodFight'' is painful as well, as he's curled up on the floor, clawing his scrunched up face and emitting noisy sobbing.
* ButtMonkey: While he tries to act like a successful MeanBoss during crossovers, either the others get the upper hand or his own patheticness does him in. Hyper and Devil Boner also mock him for his DistressedDude status at their hand, beaming with pride at the other for holding him hostage so well.
* ByronicHero: An impulsive cynic who has a TraumaCongaLine backstory. He ''wants'' to be good, but his self-hate and temper keep getting in the way.
* CameBackWrong: ''Something'' has changed from the self-loathing atoner from 2011/2012[=/=]WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and the MessianicArchetype he was. Announcing his return, he had the same PsychoticSmirk he kept wearing in his torment of Doug, shouts more than he ever used to, the opening joke of Timothy Green is him killing a cat, insults people even '''more''', his {{Stepford Smiler}} traits have been flanderized, slurs at women get shoehorned in, and he's back to HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday after years of indulging.
** Gets another boost in ''Turbo'', as Zordon gets angry at him for not doing the honorable thing and taking the easy way out but Critic is not apologetic. Remember that even in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' Ma-Ti praised him for being loyal and strong.
* CameBackStrong: [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity There are plenty of things off]], but in terms of the fourth wall he's a lot more aware of who's running the show, and what he can do if things don't go his way.
* CannotKeepASecret: He might have UndyingLoyalty, but his promise to Chester that he'd keep the Search For The Necronomicon just between them lasted for about twenty seconds.
* CannotSpitItOut: The look on his face after he just can't get up the nerve to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback" (and she doesn't notice) is almost depressing.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: [[spoiler: The Critic never suspected that God would be watching his "Old vs. New" video of ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' vs. ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt''. He thought God was a benevolent and kind being, but God didn't let him get away with that statement.]]
-->'''God:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner "Your ass is grass."]]
* CantHoldHisLiquor: In the Snob/Phelous crossover, he was drunk and weepy by 6pm, not even knowing who Rob was, messier than usual, craving Ninja Turtles (even the third movie) and crying that he used to like ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. Snob called it "shockingly depressing" and Phelous wanted to hang himself. He compares ''Film/EightCrazyNights'' to [[NoodleIncident that time]] he puked from having too much eggnog.
* CaptainObvious: Yes darling, you're white and male. You don't need to keep asking or stating that fact.
** Unless they're sad (like his "zombies are a metaphor for getting used to depression" theory), editorials usually have a talent for stating what everybody already knows. Nobody really needed to be told again that kids should watch scary moments in movies but in moderation.
* CassandraTruth:
** When he tries to put Rocky's message of "people can change" to the real world, he gets punched and shot at.
** In a less joke and more making a point version, he's depressed when he tries to tell Santa Christ about what Hyper did to him and just gets victim blamed.
-->'''Critic''': You're never gonna be on my side are you?
* TheCastShowoff: [[invoked]] Doug has a singing voice made for musical theater which he puts on display fairly often.
** He and his brother are also skilled at impressions and other voices, which they also put on display... in practically every Nostalgia Critic video.
** Less often than the singing, but he also likes to show off that he's a very good dancer. The ''Transformers 4'' crossover takes time out to have a few minute dancing contest, which is essentially just an excuse to show off his (and Erod's) dancing skills.
** In ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'', he brought back bad memories for art students when he makes some very good drawings in under a minute, calls them crap assuming everyone would agree with him, and throws them away.
** ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' shows his Burton shrine filled with drawings, and when Critic angrily squirms that they're crap, Burton kindly says “but some of it's good”.
* CatBoy: Much to [[http://thatchickwiththegifs.tumblr.com/post/140712794040/catnc-vs-dognc-cats-and-dogs-review tumblr's enjoyment]], the mother in “Cats And Dogs” makes him bat string like a cat, and play fetch like a dog. The announcers also literally call him a poodle, canon that fangirl fandom has gleefully taken to heart.
* CatSmile: When he's trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.
* CharacterCheck: For all [=NuCritic=]'s pedophile and beating children jokes/actions, he's genuinely sorry at the start of "Why Lie About Santa" when he makes a load of kids cry. The old morals can't last long though, as he happily does it at the end.
** Despite being slightly sadder and NightmareFetishist about it, his reboot CameBackWrong personality doesn't stop his Christmas excitement.
** In “A Talking Cat?!”, he quickly goes passive with Lupa when he annoys her and she yells at him (like he used to do with other female producers and Lupa herself in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''), whereas with Rachel and Tamara he's hit them for much less. And while he does shoot her (which Doug lampshades in the bloopers as shittier than when she does) later on, she shoots him right back.
** One with his reboot self. When he's with Black Willy Wonka in ''Film/TheLorax'', suddenly all the preaching about pandering vanishes and he would much rather have money than praise.
** After ages dominating Rachel, his sub side comes back up in ''Film/TheWickerMan'', wanting to be the island women's SexSlave and offering Tamara a job when she tortures him.
** One that is both in-universe and out, Critic gets a reminder in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' that the only reason why he started reviewing was because a long history of abuse made him desperate to be loved.
* CausticCritic: The fact that he's a DeconstructiveParody of one, focusing on how ''miserable'' the job is, has become more clear as time goes on.
* CharacterDevelopment: He's a ManChild with a DarkAndTroubledPast and lots of issues. The past couple of years however, he's still of course a brat, but also a PapaWolf who has basically declared himself a defender of kids well-being and intelligence.
** There's been a nice shift in power dynamics with his relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick. At first, he's condescending and just treats her like an extension of him, also being so awkward that he has to pretend to be Rasputin to hit on her. But as she grew into the sociopath we know and love, he trusts her ([[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} to almost dumbass degrees]]), wants her to be proud of herself and wants to spend time with her.
** As probably part of MiseryBuildsCharacter, his attitude towards Harley Quinn and the Joker's relationship. In his Top Eleven Animated Women, he has the hots for her (naturally) and likes the couple because it "gives homicidal maniacs like him a chance". In his Top Eleven Batman Episodes, he feels sorry for her, talks about how the pairing sums up DomesticAbuse in a nutshell and his one complaint about the episode is the {{fanservice}} of doctors in mini-skirts.
** He's become a lot more respectful towards women, dislikes stereotypical manliness (he's quite a SissyVillain himself) and has undying love for {{badass}} girls. The "Top Eleven Hottest Animated Women" list had skeeviness reminiscent of WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses.
** In his first top eleven, the Scariest Nostalgic Moments, he calls the VillainSong in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWondlernad Care Bears In Wonderland]]'' gay and mentions that if you watch ''Franchise/CareBears'' long enough you see the face of the devil. When he actually reviews the three movies, he of course still thinks they're sickeningly sweet but is a lot more mature about explaining his problems with them.
** He started being calmer(ish) and giving a general review at the end of his episodes after ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' became the utter pinnacle of badness in his eyes.
** After the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' debacle, he's learned not to be entitled and complain about having to watch something when it's a movie he actually bought or rented.
** Compare the reviews of ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' and ''Film/AlienResurrection''. The former has him salivating over a RelationshipWritingFumble between two young-looking sisters and the latter a few years later has him irritated over how it was just advertised to get the male demographic in.
** All of the above become a plot-point in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[spoiler: when Doug tells him that he's evolved over the years from an abrasive comedy character into a decent and three-dimensional person.]]
** Part of the speech at the end of ''Christmas With The Kranks'' is addressing people who think his development has been undone since TBF, sadly noting that he ''has'' changed from then, in quite a few ways, but development doesn't always mean being a better person.
* CharacterFilibuster: If his "child abuse" BerserkButton gets hit, the review will stop for a few minutes so he can get all his rant out.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Going from a happy, fanboying proto-Chester to a manic-depressive cynic, to Atoner for [[spoiler:the death of Ma-Ti]], to [[spoiler:self sacrificial saviour of the Awesomeverse]], to an abusive, depressed, condescending MetaGuy with too much power.
** In the ''Super Mario Brothers'' movie, he's grossed out by the big bertha and makes no fuss about the SatelliteLoveInterest either being a DistressedDamsel or getting a flame thrower at the end. Watching it now, it's just... strange.
** Also in the early days, he talked about kids' short attention spans and getting easily bored. With his hate for LullDestruction, can you imagine him saying that now?
** In his second Nerd rant, he doesn't even know what a compliment is. Fast forward to now and he's ''desperate'' for a movie to give him something good to say.
** Something that applies to both Critic and Doug, but when they did a segment on how much they liked a film (think until about early 2010), their tone was more muted and Critic in the “Top Five Video Game Movies” practically sounds like he's on downers. After that, Doug let his absolute ''love'' for movies shine through everything, letting us get the {{keet}}ish fanboy we know and enjoy.
** In 2007/2008 days, take a drink for how many times he calls anything he doesn't like “gay”. In later years, aside from having open crushes on men, even by ''Captain N'' he was apologizing for bottom of barrel gay jokes.
** It's weird to see him go on about how much he loves basketball in ''Film/SpaceJam'', when he makes it pretty clear he's not a sports guy later on, and Rob's mocked Doug for showing no interest in sports in a few vlogs.
* CharacterTics: Puckering his mouth when he's thinking, giving a DeathGlare with his mouth slightly open when he's trying to be angry but failing, and rubbing his chest any time he feels particularly naughty. The last is a Doug thing, as Ask That Guy does it and he himself is prone to it too. Reboot introduced clawing at the walls when he's in a particularly crazed-angry mood, as well as a wide-eyed pout when he's smugly trying to act innocent after he's said something shitty.
* TheChewToy: Part of the fun is seeing just how much he can suffer through a bad film before [[FreakOut he'll snap completely]].
** Not that he doesn't often deserve it, but the other contributors really do enjoy humiliating him. Even a long-dead [[VincentPrice guy]] has his fun.
* ChivalrousPervert: He gets upset at unneeded {{fanservice}}, [[PrincessesRule princesses]], [[DistressedDamsel damsels in distress]], [[SatelliteLoveInterest male-dependent women]] and so on, but he'll make it clear if he's attracted to a (usually toppy or curvy) lady.
** A good early example would be ''A Kid In King Arthur's Court'', as he creepily leers over the two sisters and wants incestuous lesbian sex, but also coins "dumbass in distress disorder", calling out films like this and others for having a strong woman in the first two acts yet needing a man to save her in the third.
** In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie Care Bears]]'' movie, his main theory about why the villain's voice is so cool is that she's getting oral while she does her lines. He then proceeds to act it out. (Her responses, not the eating out part.)
** He actually gets on fairly well with the site ladies and doesn't treat them any differently, but he's stated that he finds them all nice-looking.
* ChubbyChaser: Most of the women he's attracted to are on the voluptuous side.
-->'''Critic''': [when slow-motioning Rogue's bust] I'm a dirty young man yes I am.
** It also helps that he now has a [[{{BigBeautifulWoman}} Big Beautiful Woman]] wife.
* ClassClown: Subverted. He got pitied and bullied for not acting his age in eighth grade, although that hasn't stopped him from ''still'' not acting his age.
* ClosetKey: For Malcolm, who acted in the first Hyper vlog that this is his first crush on a guy and is “coming to terms” with it.
* CloseToHome:
** In the "Top 11 Disney Villains", Lady Tremain is the only one he wants to punch in the face that he hates so much. Lady Tremain of course being the only abusive parental figure on the list. And in the ''Cinderella Old vs New'', he gets very passionate about how relatable and actually strong the animated Cinderella is compared to the new, who he feels the creators tried to make flawless in an attempt to update the character.
** Anything that has kids getting hurt by adults, whether it's abuse, neglect, too much pressure or just bad messages. He has a big rant about ''ATrollInCentralPark'' giving the message that dreams can do anything, with his two examples being a dead dog coming back to life or divorced parents getting back together.
** A lot of his choices in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” are about people descending into insanity, or locked in their crazy not being able to get out, and making the relating explicit when he sadly says the scariest monsters are human and he (or anyone else) could act like one at any time.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: Usually serves this role for Chester, in that he'll look after him but sometimes take advantage of his need for drugs.
* ColorMotif: Blue. The lighting is often blue ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Doug apparently sucks at white balance]]), the wall went from a warm yellow-orangey in prime to white in reboot and then to a cold blue when people complained, he's got InnocentBlueEyes, and he [[WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee exploded into blue particles when he died]].
* CompensatingForSomething: Not in a “it's tiny” sense, the multiple crotch shots Doug likes joss that, but in the vein that it doesn't work due to all the groin attacks and he's having issues with this. There's a PlotThread from ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' to ''Film/TheShining'', where he reveals it in the former, gets passive aggressive at Leon in “Is The Big Lebowski A Masterpiece” for mentioning castration, and is really violent to Rachel in ''Shining'' to get his manhood back.
* CompositeCharacter: In reboot, people have noticed he has a lot more Ask That Guy traits (who vanished for ages and then came BackForTheDead), especially in WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot where Doug is improvising like he did for the former and episodes like “The Sixth Day” where he threatens MakeItLookLikeAnAccident deaths and is AnythingThatMoves.
* CompressedVice:
** ''Christmas Story II'' has the plot be Critic potentially losing his love for Christmas because of the bad movie, when 1) even he lampshades that will never happen and 2) the whole plot of the last review had the problem be that he loved Christmas ''too'' much (plus in the next week's editorial he rushes through it because again, wants it to be Christmas faster, and the ''Care Bears Nutcracker'' beginning has him suffering Christmas withdrawal).
** In ''Film/ThePurge'', he suddenly has a huge issue with being redundant, with even Malcolm asking why he'd risk his own life for that. Might just be self-righteous hypocrisy instead, considering he's doing the crossover that Film Brain demanded and he slaps Casper off after he says the above, but it's not made clear either way.
* CondescendingCompassion:
** After strawing him, ignoring him and having very little empathy, he eventually explains to Joe why ''Joe'' likes ''Film/ManOfSteel''. [[VillainHasAPoint Zod mocks him for the sad attempt at being a hero right afterwards]].
** PlayedForLaughs in “When Is A Movie Just A Movie” when his point is good (there are bigger problems than just movies) yet slathers on the condescension about how you can choose to not be effected by a movie. His ending is that he's the one with final say over which film is worth getting upset over though, so it's not irritating.
** “Why Do We Love Stupid” starts with him talking about the Dalai Lama's video on how compassion isn't weak but not quite getting the gist, using it to assume his “all comedy is misery” BiasSteamroller again.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror:
** The bad upbringing gives him a few moments, like thinking every family have regular giant arguments at dinner, rape not being considered a special type of evil or defending kinky fantasies at a very young age.
** Lampshaded in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics”, where he admits that abusive family stuff at Halloween probably hasn't happened to you, but he has a past.
** He's also been taught to think that friendship is getting punished if you don't do what the more important one says.
* ConflictingLoyalty: Between his religious belief and wanting scientific proof that God exists. Mostly this is kept to the background not to offend anyone.
** In ''Maximum Overdrive'', he ''really'' wants to be a BloodKnight and perv on the violence, but also ''really'' wants to not be confined to his gender as his other hand keeps making him read Jane Austen whenever there's a violent scene.
** With Hyper. On the one hand he's scared of her, hates her enough to not even consider her a real person, has issues with kidnapping, and wants her gone. On the other hand he's tired enough to ShowSomeLeg[=/=]offer friendship in hopes that she'll leave him alone and not hurt him more. On the other other hand, even before StockholmSyndrome kicked in he indulged her because she gave him attention.
* ConstantlyCurious: In the first two commercial specials, even though he figures that the two 1800 numbers are run by pedophiles, he calls them anyway. (And doesn't hang up even though he's disgusted, but that's a different problem.)
* ConvertedFanboy: While played straight with WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, Critic gaining memories of Doug's vlogs and calling it his most favorite show ever, oddly subverted with WesternAnimation/AdventureTime; Doug often talks about how it's made him feel better and safer when he watches it, but while references to it have seeped into the show, Critic is more resistant to the strangeness and only calls it a case of stupid comedy that works. This changed in “Are Kid Shows Now Better Than Ever” though, as he praised it for “I Remember You”, canon gay with PB/Marcy being ex-girlfriends, tackling Bubblegum's need for political control in a sympathetic way, and being a comedy that isn't afraid of going into depressing territory.
* TheCorrupter: He has this unintentional ability to turn otherwise basically decent people into sadists. (Like Lewis and Doug agreeing that Linkara put the idea to rape Critic into Spoony's head.)
* CorruptTheCutie: He was a Catholic schoolboy, and while he's still religious, now he has an active sex life that isn't so big on SafeSaneAndConsensual.
-->'''Critic A''': ["apologizing"] What would Jesus do?
-->'''Critic B''': [instantly horny] Take me!
* CosmicPlaything: He really should stop pissing off beings with more powers than him.
* CosplayOtakuGirl: A RareMaleExample. An [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} M Bison]] costume that he brags got him tons of pussy, a {{stripperiffic}} [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Link outfit]], and, for his review of ''{{Transformers}}'', an Optimus Prime suit with a conspicuous crotch bulge that we get to look at every now and then.
* CrazyJealousGuy: For Chick. He can't always stop it coming through the stronger IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy feeling. He's wary over her obsession with Todd, gets all growly when she fawns over Creator/JewWario in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights, and looks close to tears (to her credit, so is she) when he mentions she doesn't always return phone calls or emails.
** He's a far less sympathetic version in “The Review Must Go On”, as he makes assumptions about Demo Reel that just aren't true, and refuses to leave until Doug caves in bringing him back.
** To give a nod to the WebVideo/DemoReel example, he outright admits that he would give a positive review to The Uncanny Valley if he were in it, but he's not so has no choice.
** In ''Film/FoodFight'', he's breaking before over failing to get money, but Malcolm and Tamara {{squee}}ing over something together and ignoring him is the final straw as he trudges out. In the next review, ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', his punishment for them (which doesn't go over well) is to stay in the closet.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he gets possessive over anything that he considers his, from the Alf doll to [[HomoeroticSubtext General Anesthetic]].
* CrazyPrepared: “What You Never Knew About TMNT” is a video Critic just so happened to release in case he got captured by a crazy fan.
* CrazySurvivalist: He prepares with his gun, a police jacket, a S.W.A.T helmet, knuckle dusters and a baseball bat to watch ''Secret Of NIHM 2''.
* CreepyGood: When he wants to be disturbing, his mannerisms and voice are reminiscent of HIM from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. Just listen to him at the start of [[http://blip.tv/nostalgia-chick/nostalgia-chick-bratz-2723840 this]].
* CreepyShadowedUnderEyes: When an episode gives him black smears under his eyes (and it's not just Doug looking tired with no help), then it's a sign he's breaking harder than normal.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Remember that video with ''Bebe's Kids''? Remember how he complained so much? Remember how he did not complete the game? Apparently he is a good enough gamer to slam Angry Joe into next week in ''Marvel vs Capcom 2''.
-->'''Angry Joe:''' This man WHUPPED MY ASS!"
** He gets a BreakTheHaughty CurbStompBattle once Joe gets a [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/02/mvc3-grudge-match-angry-review/ brand new joystick though]].
* CrustyCaretaker: The only other job he's had is Doug's factory cleaner gig (this was when Doug was still in school) and he got in trouble for hitting on "Amanda" too much.
* CuteBookworm: He may not have all that much common sense, but have you ever noticed the vast amounts of books he owns?
* CuteButCacophonic: He sounds like a howler monkey when he really gets worked up with shouting, and there are people who don't even like his normal voice, stating they watch his episodes muted.
* CuteButPsycho: Sometimes sweet and {{adorkable}}, sometimes blowing up an entire city by accident because of a tantrum.
** Getting a SoProudOfYou from the Devil for a torture suggestion makes him giggle about having a lot to work with.
** “Psychotic princess” is the only way to describe him in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he gleefully kidnaps people to force them to be his friends, and keeps asking if he looks pretty in the winning tiara. He does.
* CuteGlassesBoy: It's not that Doug isn't attractive anyway, but his glasses make him look very baby-faced.
* CuteMute: He's been traumatized into silence a few times, one of which was in Spooning With Spoony. Noah revealed in his commentary that the reason why Critic only had one line in that was because Doug wanted to play the victim as much as possible.
* CutenessProximity: He squees himself into teenage girl mode when he sees Snuffaluffagus in ''Series/SesameStreet''.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Adds another level of funny when you get that he has all these things he could justifiably complain about and he chooses to focus on shitty movies instead.
** Lampshaded in “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” where he says fucked up shit happening with family might not have happened to you much, but he's got a history.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Doug said once that he chose the black suit jacket to establish the Critic as the asshole to the Nerd's white-clad "hero", but also had the red tie and white shirt to offset any BlackAndWhiteMorality that may have came from it.
* DarkSecret: Accidentally strangling a hooker to death after WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} and while still in Reno. He admits this while thinking the camera's not on yet.
* DarkMessiah: He's friends with the devil, sold his soul, ''has'' saved the world three times and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' involves him being compared to Superman right before he has a screamfest about how the movie sucks.
* DatingCatwoman: According to Doug and Lindsay, he and the Chick have this sort of relationship. There's an interesting contrast between the Chick's crazed addiction to get Todd noticing her and her mutually bitchy but fun and warm dynamic with the Critic.
* DeadpanSnarker: Mixed in with StepfordSnarker and bitterness.
* DealWithTheDevil: He's so desperate to have to have Sequel Month erased from his memory that he'll do whatever Sage tells him to do. He traded his soul away to Malcolm's devil for the ability to do a Zod impression, which showed how little anything means to him post-retcon.
* DeathByDespair: After fully breaking down about how his life has gone nowhere, he gets about an inch away from it in his first commercials special.
* DeathByMaterialism: Downplayed. He doesn't die for being OnlyInItForTheMoney in regards to ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', but he does end up in a worse place of sanity than he was already.
* DeathSeeker: You know, you could just leave the room or switch off the TV instead of trying to off yourself constantly.
** After his brief period of happiness in the PlotHole, it's got even worse. In ''Son Of The Mask'' he's begging Satan to see sense and just let him die again.
** Right after Evilina tells him her dad will kill him if he finds out he left her alone, he agrees to come back, but looks over the horizon, stays that little extra longer and hits her later. And in ''Devil'' he outright goads [[spoiler: who he thinks is the Devil]] into killing him.
** In ''Ghost Dad'', [[spoiler: while he's only pretending to have died to torture Malcolm and Tamara]], he still poured gasoline all over himself and has nostalgic feelings over how nice it is to be dead.
* DefiantCaptive: Until he sees all the boy-pandering comics and StockholmSyndrome starts setting in, he gets in a few sarcastic comments to Hyper about the assassin pointing a gun at him or how long she's planning on keeping him for.
* [[DeliberatelyCuteChild Deliberately Cute Man-Child]]: In "Return Of The Commercials" after "killing things smaller than gives you power!" and an EvilLaugh, he giggles like a puppy-eyed girl when she's just been caught painting the walls.
* DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel: Hams it up like a stereotypical maiden when he thinks Todd is a "masked intruder" there to rape him, and sulks big time when he founds it's just time for a crossover.
* DemonicPossession: In the AVGN vs. NC Final Battle, he gets possessed by the devil when he's losing and can only be killed for a short period by Super Mecha Death Christ.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In his own reviews, Doug writes Critic as an ExtremeDoormat who'll always end up giving in to other contributors demands for a crossover. In others (like TheRapCritic's review of Shaq's album), he'll have the stones to ignore any request.
** Even with the BaitTheDog moment of being nice and subby then shooting her for no reason (which Doug lampshaded in the bloopers as grosser when he does it to a woman than vice versa), he's a lot less TroubledButCute in Lupa's "A Talking Cat" review, making more casual jokes and not treating her like he does Rachel or Tamara.
** He was always ditzier and more childlike in the ''Child's Play'' reviews with Phelous. Ended up contributing to their DramaticIrony dynamic [[spoiler: Phelous is WrongGenreSavvy because he thinks Critic is still a cowardly manchild, but in reality he's an atoning DeathSeeker]] in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee though, so TropesAreNotBad.
** In “The Review Must Go On”, when the Creator tells a seething Donnie that he'll be more understanding as the Critic, review!Critic mocks that the only 'understanding' videos are the editorials and the rest of the time he's even nastier than before.
* DesignatedMonkey: WordOfGod says he was ''created'' to suffer. Deconstructed in ''ScoobyDoo'' onwards, where he breaks down over how hellish his life is and wants nothing more than to do something good for once.[[invoked]]
* DespairEventHorizon: He's already well past it when ''Film/TheNeverendingStory III'' begins. He approaches it at the end of ''Film/MyPetMonster'' and start of the following "Nostalgic Commercials" video, falling over the edge near the end.
** The death of Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' slowly eroded away what was left of his sanity and it all came to a head at the beginning of the ''ScoobyDoo'' review.
** From "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green" to "Does Romeo And Juliet Suck", he hypocritically (because he's gone right back to square one) preaches of how people grow up and learn to adapt. But all the misery comes flooding back in ''SonOfTheMask'' and he begs for death, so after that, nothing more is said about learning from your mistakes.
** All the meta from ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' hurt him a lot more than he let on in that episode, as in the next editorial he ends it talking about fighting too hard for your freedom makes your prison bars so much stronger.
** There's a whole swathe of events to choose from, but whatever happened before “Why Do We Love Zombies” got a speech about getting used to depression and giving in, letting it destroy you.
** Confirmed by Doug on the commentary, Critic almost kissing Hyper was going to be a stockholm version. Luckily Bennie reverses it by revealing her plan, but there are still issues post episode.
** In the BadFuture of 2019, he's completely alone, cries in front of Snob (who owns both him and the site) and has clearly crossed it a long time ago with no hope left at all.
* {{Determinator}}: He'll run all the way from Chicago to Philly to fight the Nerd (which apparently takes two weeks) and he won't even get tired.
* DeterminedDefeatist: He knows he's pathetic, but carries on because at least he's resilient.
* DefiledForever:
** Other than Chick going into DontYouDarePityMe mode and wanting revenge, he's the only left broken over getting raped by Spoony. Even if WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee where he's trying to save him, the spooning is still on his mind.
** While the two weeks that Hyper held him captive is more of a DidTheyOrDidntThey, he was really fucked up by what she did to him, and always backs away when they're in close contact.
** In ''Jem'', he uses this feeling to empathize with Rob Scallon's [[spoiler: apparent]] trauma over being in the movie, and asks if he was safe at least.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: In “Cats And Dogs”, the abusive mother gets him to play fetch with her like he's a dog, and he realizes how pitiful it is to be happy about this when he's literally got the ball in his mouth.
* DirtyCoward:
** In ''Film/GhostDad'', he openly says he hopes his making Tamara and Malcolm feel shit about themselves will give him enough time to run to his car like a coward. [[spoiler: it doesn't.]]
** In the “Best Avatar Episodes”, he says “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” to Malcolm when he leaves him to die.
** When Bay shoots at them in the ''Transformers 4'' review, he runs off [[spoiler: to get the ElectricTorture chair that he rigged up]] and tells Erod to draw his fire.
** In ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', he immediately betrays Santa Christ. Though this is less dirty than most (he didn't want to get tortured and it's not like Santa Christ hasn't been horrible to him for a while), he's still cast as the Judas.
** In ''Film/HocusPocus'', he says the best way of dealing with the witches is "running away like a pussy".
* DisappearedDad: He's mentioned very rarely and Critic still lives with his mom. There's been a few hints that the parents got divorced. (This is in-character of course, Doug's dad - Barney Walker - has helped out a lot with music and such, therefore gets thanked in the credits.) In a 2015 ''Last Angry Geek'' episode, it was revealed that [[spoiler: Dr Smith]] was his father, and he'd [[spoiler: died of cancer]] not too long ago.
* DissonantSerenity: Before he goes into LackOfEmpathy, his ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'' post-explosion demenour is pretty blissful, knowing this day would come.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: When he's being all determined to face down the Nerd at Digital Press, he checks out his reflection in a shop window.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Dulcia of the ''PowerRangers Movie'' defeats a mob of "giant black chickens" by swinging two stick-weapons "throwing them into some kind of hypnotic trance":
-->'''Critic''': Yeah, how's that supposed to put you in a trance, taking two sticks and putting them up and down, up and down, up and down, [''cut to Dulcia in her BattleBikini''] up and down...up and down... [''picture slowly zooms in on her breasts'']...up and down...up and down... [''gets his hat knocked off''] [{{Beat}}] You win this round, Dulcea.
* DistressedDude: Has happened so many times that RealityEnsues and he's developed some serious issues because of it.
** He got kidnapped by the Game Heroes and was made to promote their stuff at gunpoint.
** When he was chloroformed by The Nostalgia Chick, he got just as much into the victim role.
** Spooning With Spoony II probably counts, seeing as how he was the only canon one who was roofied and judging by the details, Spoony really went to town on humiliating him.
** Made fun of in the ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' review where he acts like he's chained up.
-->'''Critic''': Next I bet you wanna hook up my nipples to a car battery, don't you? ''Don't you?''
** Also played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Care Bears Movie II|A New Generation}}'' when Christy's screaming wears him down even though he knows it's a trap.
-->'''Critic''': Oh my God, a bag!
** Teddy Ruxpin forces a gun in his mouth and makes him write a more positive review, killing him when he screams for help.
** Before Ma-Ti comes in to take the brunt of the abuse in the brawl, he spends most of the beginning on the floor. Both [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Linkara]] and the [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Chick]] joined in specifically to save him.
** Looks to be the case in Linkara's PreviouslyOn for ''Countdown'', with Chester in control and shot with HitlerCam, and Critic being shown in the opposite camera angle and surrounded by darkness. He recovers (with snark) better in this instance than he does the others.
** The amount of IHaveYouNowMyPretty moments he's been subjected to would make this list even longer.
** By ''Film/TheWiz'', all that distress seems to have warped his brain a little, as he's actually ''disappointed'' when learning Todd isn't a rapist LoonyFan who wants him.
** Near the end of ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod takes him hostage and would have slowly tortured him to death (making good on what was threatened in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'') if it hadn't been for Superman's intervention.
** He's alone with Shya-Amon in ''Devil'' and is about to get {{Mind Rape}}d again before Devil-In-Santa-Christ saves his ass.
** “What You Never Knew About TMNT” strongly implies that Hyper Fangirl kidnapped him, as he's suddenly 'missing until further notice and terrified' after she had broken into his house. Turns out that she'd taken him to a BigFancyHouse that she got from a previous stalking victim and was making him do 'romantic' stuff with her (under gunpoint and torture threats) until he fell in love with her. He reminds her of this in the ''Christmas Story II'' rant but is MadeOutToBeAJerkass.
** In the ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' parody of 2014's Nostalgiaween, he takes the place of Justine and get stabbed, although this might be an hallucination of his.
** Subverted in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, as he's technically there against his will, but he's fine and is especially happy watching losing contestants die. In the rebooted version, he's the one taking a page from Hyper and kidnapping people to try and make them his friends.
** For liking ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' more than ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', he gets kidnapped by Devil Boner, Improbable Joe and the other War Boys.
** Lampshaded in ''Christmas With The Kranks'', where he asks “why is it whenever I wake up I have a 50/50 chance of being held against my will”?
** PlayedForLaughs in “Cats and Dogs”, when he was apparently held hostage by a [[http://aattp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kid-with-gun-620x330.jpg this]] kid with a gun.
-->'''Critic''': I'm never taking that babysitting job again.
*** He's also creeped out by how calm the kid is while blindfolded and tied up, and says in his experience, he'd be scared shitless no matter what age he was.
** Also amusingly lampshaded in ''Cinderella: Old vs New'', as Hyper and Devil Boner are proud of the other for keeping Critic hostage so well.
** In the crossover review of ''BMX Bandits'', Diamanda Hagan uses General Anesthetic to hold him at gunpoint so he'll do the review with her. He's irritated but it's happened so much he takes it in stride.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: He's nearly always barefoot when playing around in his house.
* TheDogBitesBack: After getting beaten on by Casper for a whole episode, he puts on a Ghostbusters uniform and hunts him down.
** Likewise, with "True Internet Story", where he kicks the shit out of the Last Angry Geek for making wild accusations about his personality and earlier life.
* DomesticAbuser: In ''Film/TheShining'', it takes him no time at all to slip into abusive husband role to Rachel. She also acts like an abuse victim, rationalizing his behaviour and carrying on trying to help even when she's crying and he's toying with her.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In "Why Is Loki So Hot", he gets pissed about himself being put on [[invoked]] TheWoobie list [[note]]despite the fact that he isn't, he's on JerkassWoobie[[/note]] after reading that it means a character you feel bad for.
* DrinkOrder: Cupcake vodka. He has it in the PlotHole, and he wants it again when he's hallucinating in ''Film/TheShining''.
* DrivenByEnvy: Despite calling what he does analyzing (and being good at it), he'll always cut off the co-reviewer when they're "taking things too seriously". Chalk it up to his fear of AlwaysSomeoneBetter.
** He destroys Demo Reel and gives a bad review to The Uncanny Valley just because he doesn't like that [[Creator/DougWalker daddy]] wants to do other things that doesn't involve him for a change.
* DraggedIntoDrag: According to Spoony in his ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' video, he forced Critic to dress up like a dirty ballerina during Spooning With Spoony 2 and took pictures for blackmail.
* DragonWithAnAgenda:
** The other contributors think that he's the (ineffectual) MeanBoss of the site. In reality, it's The Other Guy (who answers to Michaud, who kidnapped him for [=BarFiesta=] and dismissed Critic as a monkey) and Critic's just a puppet with woefully poor self-esteem.
** Comes back in Sage's ''Speed Runner'' episode, where Critic kidnaps Sage and wants to keep him, but when Rob comes in and punishes him he's having a complete breakdown.
* TheDreaded:
** Malcolm tweeted after "The Worst Christmas Special Ever" that Critic now ''wants'' everyone to fear him.
** Brad name-drops the trope to refer to Critic before he comes out in the final round of the game show pilot.
* DrivenToMadness: ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' does this to the Critic in his 100th episode. It does it out of the ''sheer stupidity'' of the movie. So much so they sped the camera up for most of his breakdown.
** And ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' drives him [[IncrediblyLamePun 'batshit insane']], until he takes some pills. "Tranquilizers. Always come prepared when Schumacher is involved."
* DrivenToSuicide: In [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] review of Captain America, he asks for the Critics opinion on the movie, [[SeriousBusiness making sure he knows that if he doesn't]], [[KickTheDog he'll get blackmailed with crossdressing pictures from when he was roofied and raped]]. Cut to a shot of the Critic's elevated feet dangling from side to side while squeaking from a rope is heard.
-->'''Spoony''': "That's the coward's way out, and you know it, Critic!"
** After his "''{{Superman}}'' Top 11" review, the Critic mentions how the movies always make him smile, before remembering the tragic fates of Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and the World Trade Center.
--->''"I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm going to go kill myself."''
*** Not all ''Superman ''movies make him smile. From his ''Superman IV'' review. "How long is this movie again?" "Hour and a half." "BLAM!"
** ''Film/BioDome'' made him slash his wrists, although either he or someone else put plasters on them afterwards.
** The songs in ''The Pebble And The Penguin'' make him feel so dirty that he takes a bath with a toaster.
** It's made clear in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee that he's trying to toe the line between wanting to die (plus that look of peace when he actually does) and wanting to fix his mistakes.
* DrunkWithPower: Seeing as how he has so little of it usually, when he does get the faintest whiff of power he'll try and cling to it as hard as he can.
** Less sympathetic in the reboot, as he says "power is always sexy, because the more of it you have, the more you can get whatever you want" in "Why Is Loki So Hot", and Doug confirmed in his "Disney Afternoon" commentary that having Tamara and Malcolm as essentially his toys to dress up was feeding into Critic's hunger for power.
** At the beginning of ''Sharknado'', he makes Snob say he needs Critic's help, just so he can be all giddy at the thought of it.
** In the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' he openly connects his Critic suit to having power and forcing people to do things for him.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: He pinches WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's ass--while almost unconscious himself.
* DumbStruck: Because Doug lost his voice again, ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' was so awful that Critic lost the ability to talk.
* TheDutifulSon: He knew his family is abusive, but always defended them anyway. Whether it came off as heartwarming or a case of StockholmSyndrome was up to you.
* DyingAlone: While it doesn't win the round, a CAH panel had Lewis use a card that said “Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm dying alone and in pain so you don't have to”, and Doug nods happily.
* DynamicCharacter: He's grown up in a lot of ways, but has suffered SanitySlippage in other areas.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Mostly a feminist, he still has his moments that come out in either RealWomenDontWearDresses beliefs or trying to see how far he can go until he gets [[{{fetish}} put back in his place]].
* EntitledBastard: Mixed with UngratefulBastard, in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' he tells Tamara that he'll probably need saving in the third act and if she, a “worthless sack of nothingness” could do it that'd be great.
** In ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'', he demands Tamara do her Dorothy impression even when she's dying from the explosion, and uses her as a footstool when she complains at him.
* EmptyShell:
** He's got very close to this twice before snapping himself out of it. Funnily enough, both with song.
** In “The Dark Age Of Movies”, he references this seriously by adding in “sometimes in life all you can do is just survive”.
** Being {{mind rape}}d by Shya-Amon literally turns him into one of the BrainlessBeauty type.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: ''Cartoon Allstars'' making him so miserable that he sees no other way out than to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] [[DeathIsCheap in the head]].
** And a more subtle one at the beginning. Even though seeing the movie "brings back a pool of disappointing memories", he's smiling when he says he has to watch it again.
** And another near the end. When the characters refuse to stop hammering the moral in, he starts to disagree when they say he should believe in himself and that they care about him.
** The reboot gets {{foreshadowing}} for later cruel out of the way quickly, as he bitches on a random guy's looks, calls the audience "uniquely lazy", talks like Ask That Guy when making a NAMBLA reference, and kills a kitten all in first few minutes.
* EthicalHedonist: He admits that the nexus - where you feel nothing but timeless joy and don't care about anything else - would be awesome, but he still gets irritated at Kirk for doing a 180 from "I need my pain" to "I don't want responsibility".
* EthicalSlut: He thinks everyone, regardless of age or gender, should just have loads of sex and let the stigma of sluttiness as a bad thing die out.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As much as he couldn't stand the Nerd, calling him TheIrateGamer is going too far.
** He does a NotMeThisTime when Todd, Jesu, Y and Rollo T accuse him of making them watch ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He doesn't even know who they are.
** Even he couldn't bring himself to insult ''Series/SesameStreet''.
** As bloodthirsty as he is in the ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, he starts getting a little disturbed by John's offscreen messy death as time goes on. In other episodes, when he's running the show, he's creeped out by the “spazzies” (violent animations done by Doug) and offers whoever made them some of his meds.
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards:
** The dorky dancing Peter does in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' is too geeky even for him.
** Subverted in the Harry Potter book launch. After spending the majority of the video bitching about it, he has a FreakOut {{squee}} larger than anyone when the books start coming out.
** There's an affectionate potshot at erotic fanfic writers when George Lucas and Carrie Fisher are the couple in ''Film/{{Hook}}''.
** He gets to be on the other side of it when even [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester]] laughs at him because he watches ''WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa''.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Falls for this trope with regard to Creator/WillSmith when reviewing ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
** KeithDavid as well. It's the [[ArousedByTheirVoice voice.]]
** Continuing the trend, he's so charmed by Ernie Hudson in ''Congo'' that he calls him a "black Clark Gable".
** He has a PlayedForLaughs crush on Lucas from ''TheWizard''.
** His utter glee over Creator/DanielCraig and Creator/KateWinslet sharing a kiss suggests it's not just Miss Winslet he finds appealing.
** "Ohhh, George Takei, teach me the Spocker!" Said like he's having an orgasm, no less, and made slightly creepy because of the CallBack to [=SWS2=].
** And now he wants Creator/HughJackman. To be fair, everyone wants Creator/HughJackman. Called back in a very HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday way in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, where he says “if you were a girl you'd probably be thankful to have Wolverine save you”.
** Despite his denial and annoyance, he has a moment of swoon for every Avengers man in "Why Is Loki So Hot", saving special StupidSexyFlanders feelings for Thor. And in ''Fantastic Four'', while making a point that everyone's too pretty, Chris Evans is still the only one he calls a beautiful specimen.
** In “The Review Must Go On” he rides Mark Wahlberg's fake dick to make Doug feel uncomfortable, and in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' he says it'd be every woman's dream to buy the guy.
** In ''Disney Afternoon'', he states the obvious in that Tim Curry can wear women's clothing and still be hot.
** In ''Film/MammaMia'', he says the choice of Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård is “an adventure of Choose Your Own DILF”.
** In ''Labyrinth'', he shows a lot of appreciation for Bowie as 'girl porn', even giving him the dubious honor of saying he's the only man who could make 50 Shades work. In "David Bowie's Codpiece", he also says that the movie with David Bowie being homoerotic with other men is in his "private collection".
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he doesn't even know who Angelo D'Angelo is, but with that name he already wants to {{squee}} about how "dreamy" he is.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Only known as The Critic most of the time. Although Rob/The Other Guy will occasionally call him by his real name.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** He usually “jumps at the opportunity” to make a dick joke, but the one in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash'' is so half-assed that he just wants to relish the next one and pass this over.
** Doug has said plenty of times that he loves anything to do with gender role reversal, but Critic has no patience for cartoon Zelda's ep about it because they'd ''already'' switched it up.
* EveryoneHatesMath: He can't remember any algebraic equation from school. [[WritersCannotDoMath Which would explain a lot.]]
* EverythingIsRacist: Most of the time he has a good point, but at other times he can get on his soapbox a little too much.
* EvilAllAlong: Subtle retcon in ''Film/TheShining'', as before then the reboot was always unclear whether Critic was ''supposed'' to be good but really didn't come off that way, or CameBackWrong and he didn't know what he was doing, or ThenLetMeBeEvil. Rachel telling him that she wished she could say that he was once nice to her but that wouldn't be true, proves it a mix of the last two.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he talks about knowing Mormons in "Top 11 South Park Episodes", he's throughly confused over how anyone could be "unusually nice, and ethical, and not angry, and just... ''pleasant''".
** More dickish than evil but in “Why Do We Love Stupid”, he talks about watching the Dalai Lama's video on compassion but a few minutes later shows he didn't quite understand by putting in three screamers in a row [[note]]something that people with anxiety especially really hate[[/note]] and then telling people to admit they liked the first screamer they saw. To put this into perspective, the Ask That Guy episode with a screamer [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/ask-thatguy/505-ask-thatguy-episode-5 had a warning]].
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheShining'' where he just wants to attack Stephen King because he's making his living by entertaining others.
-->'''Critic''': Oh-ho, we'll show him, won't we Pennywise?
* EvilerThanThou: After a long chase scene in ''BMX Bandits'', he admits Diamanda is darker than him, but that he still wants someone shot to alleviate the boredom.
* EvilSoundsDeep: For whatever reason, in “The Review Must Go On”, his voice was smoother, more in control, and almost {{squick}}ily seductive. And whenever he thought Doug was wriggling out of his power, it only got lower and more threatening.
* EvilMatriarch: The old lady devil in [[Film/{{Devil}} said film]] giving a man a BreakThemByTalking speech reminds him of his angry mother balling him out. And there are plenty of other examples of awful things she's apparently done to him.
* ExtremeDoormat: While he's a brat who loves starting arguments, he falls apart with little provocation. He's aware of this.
-->'''Critic''': I just do what everyone tells me to do in the hopes of feeling less insecure.
** Subverted in ''The Top 11 Strangest Couples'', as when Little Kuriboh is in bed with him, he says okay to touchies while looking like he's going to cry, but throws the other man out when his chest gets groped.
[[/folder]]
* AbusiveParents: His parents (and various mentions of other family members suggest they weren't too great either) broke him really bad, making him an easily scared, naive, weepy PsychopathicManchild who thinks parents shouting at each other happens all the time and has children getting hurt as a BerserkButton, but they've done a couple of nice things for him that keep them out of "totally irredeemable" territory. Plus both of them have died (at different points) and he sounded completely destroyed hearing and talking about it.
-->'''Critic:''' Yeah, I remember the last time I said "this is the nineties, old man" to my Dad... (''shakily and looking traumatized'') i-it really was the last time.
* {{Adorkable}}: His awkwardness has a tendency to ''really'' come out during the "Old vs. New" segments and his intense, enduring love for Christmas was very sweet until Doug went DarkerAndEdgier and twisted said love into [[http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-grandma-got-run-over-by-a-reindeer/ psychosis]]. He's still a nerd who tends to get enthusiastic over certain things and it's endearing to watch, like how he was so excited to review ''Lady in the Water''. Plus he has an [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Elsa]] clipboard.
* AesopAmnesia:
** In a post-PlotHole review of ''{{Twilight}}'', he says it made him realize he can't keep obsessing over the past, needs to move on, and wants to go back to being the universe instead of having a physical body. Come “The Review Must Go On” and all that's forgotten about.
** Mara Wilson is gonna be angry that you had to learn about child stars ''[[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-review-must-go-on-6510378 again]]'', Critic... Even then you didn't learn, agreeing with Zordon in ''Turbo'' that all child stars know how to do is go crazy, being mean to Anna Sophia Robb by focusing on her looks in a negative way instead of her acting, and adding a {{rimshot}} to mocking fun of Dakota Fanning.
*** Lampshaded when he lazily says "insert Mara Wilson revenge joke here" in "Top 12 Santa Clauses" but then a clip of her laughing still scares him.
** In ''ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', he actually talked to people and took the chance to make friends/strengthen the relationships he already had, not to mention helping everyone in the PlotHole. With the reboot he's back to being alone (not even interacting with Chester), the Santa Christ call implying out of guilt.
** His very potent determination to never hurt people again (and succeeding at being a BigGood) was replaced with maiming cats, more personal insults, hitting kids, suggesting torture that not even the devil thought of, and beating three people to near-death with a baseball bat.
** His completely forgetting that everyone has a right to like what they want, including TMZ, and calling anyone who did out as worthless virgins (to put it nicely), had real-life consequences and hurt [[http://tgwtgsecrets.tumblr.com/post/51729890214/a-defense-of-tmz-from-an-avid-fan a friend's feelings]].
** His SK-TBF year had him learning the benefit of other people's opinions, culminating in very innocently asking Roger how things can be liked but still widely mocked. ''BridgeToTerabithia'' has him outright say "Well, I'm not one to disagree with other people's opinions... unless they're stupid and not mine.", and ''The Guyver'' review has him ignoring Sage's calling him out of being more insulting than he was.
** Lampshaded anvil-hard in the video he sent to the Nerd roasting. “Even though we ended at a good place in To Boldly Flee, I still hate you!”
** He says "a director can make a bad film" in his ''AI'' soapbox speech, but Burton very nearly manages to teach him that lesson in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', fucking up in Critic's eyes before it can sink in. It's so CallBack-like this may be intentionally using the trope.
*** A little more understated and understandable because major SanitySlippage, but "Kubrick's not perfect" was made a major deal in the ending of ''AI'', so it's a little odd that he has to relearn that at the end of ''The Shining''.
** At the end of ''Princess Diaries 2'', he “learns” not to stay in the constructs of his gender. That he had to learn this at all is news to the audience, as even in early days being a girly brat was always a big part of Critic's personality. (Might be justified with his admittance in the ''Uncanny Valley'' review that he's dying from repression, but doubtful.)
** Ironic considering he actually referenced ''Film/MoulinRouge'' in the ''Film/MammaMia'' review, but the “guilty pleasures” song appears to have been driven out of his brain. He has huge complaints about women liking ''Princess Diaries II'' and ''Film/MammaMia'', even though people who enjoy them usually say they know they're dumb but they're fun popcorn movies usually made for eye candy purposes, and they like plenty of actual good stuff too.
** More bittersweet than usual in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' as after a sad speech about changing, self-loathing and how at least if you're aware of the bad things you've done you shouldn't hate yourself so much, he goes right back to arguing with Tamara and Malcolm and treating them badly.
* AgentScully: Despite all of the unexplained, magical things that have happened to him, he still demands logic in the movies he reviews.
* AggressiveSubmissive: A force of nature personality coupled with an ExtremeDoormat need to be loved will make you one of these. In PQH, he's technically the General's boss, but tells him he's into being leashed and wants to be invited to a BDSM party.
* AintTooProudToBeg: He'll even whore himself out as long [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry you]] don't play another song.
** Variant in ''Future's End'' when Snob tells him in basic terms to do his SexSlave job again. He breaks down crying immediately, but kneels down and unzips anyway.
** In one of Hyper's post-kidnapping vlogs, he in exhausted tone asks her if he does what she tells him to do will she finally go away. She says no and he shows some leg before shoving her out the window.
* TheAlcoholic: Even though even [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] would probably laugh at him for not being able to handle his drink, booze pops up a lot in his show. In ''It'', Dr Smith [[spoiler: his father]] gets concerned because he's drinking too much.
* AlcoholicParent: His mother calls him up when she's been drinking and insults him horribly. It's happened so often that he doesn't mind, and he still looks completely traumatized when he's told that she died. Though that doesn't stop him from mentioning it in later reviews, she got drunk at her book club apparently.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Gender-inverted. He has a MasochismTango-like relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, he sees no problem with the attractive inmates from ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' snuffing him out, got attracted to Tamara after she tortured him and gave her a job to make his “I just watch him because he's pretty hurting” demographic happy, and his prom date ended up raping him. Hyper Fangirl actually had RightForTheWrongReasons, thinking he would love her because she pretended to like the things he did, but Doug saying in commentary that Critic had been close to falling for her because she kidnapped and hurt him.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: What gets him into so much trouble with Rachel, Malcolm, Tamara and the Hyper Fangirl. He wants them around to be abused and stroke his ego, but when they either snap from mistreatment or (in the case of the last) feel like they have a chance with him, he gets pissed off.
* AlterEgoActing: The Critic's name is Doug, but he's still a fictional character whom Doug Walker plays.
* AManIsNotAVirgin: The Critic seems to have something against virgins. He said that the protagonist of ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' needs to get laid, in the Nerd movie review he assumes anyone who abuses women online for being a “fake gamer girl” just hasn't been laid yet, called out Rafe of ''Film/PearlHarbor'' for holding off sex to his girlfriend, and used the word "virgin" as an insult. Plus in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', just moments after joking that Website/{{Tumblr}} is full of oversensitive people, he makes another joke that they could never get laid in real life. Amusing/ironically enough, he hates ''Film/HocusPocus'' for “virgin shaming”, though Doug admitted later that it wasn't as bad as he originally thought.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Maven insults him by calling him a "reanimated dead guy", he randomly changes into a South Park version of himself out of anger at the end of "Top 11 South Park Episodes", the "Why Do We Love Zombies" title card averts BeautyIsNeverTarnished by having his face decay, and [[spoiler: he manages to be fine with being burned alive]] in "Ghost Dad". Shyam-amon calls him "mortal" in "Devil", but he's not exactly the best judge.
* AmazonChaser: Put an ActionGirl in a movie (but don't chickify her) and he'll fall in love. Tamara in ''Film/TheWickerMan'' uses this to her advantage, as while she's cutesy and silly with Snob and Spoony, she gaslights and tortures Critic and it gets her a job with him.
* AmIJustAToyToYou:
** His screaming at the Chick about does she even care about him goes into this trope when WordOfGod confirmed they had sex in the ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' review.
** An InterplayOfSexAndViolence version at the end of ''Film/TheWickerMan'', as he runs after Tamara to yell at her... not for torturing him, but for leaving afterwards and not giving him a chance to give her a job because views go up when he's in pain.
* AnimalsHateHim: In the mindfucks list, a toy puppy turns into a giant gorilla to kill him. Close to being justified, as whenever there's a movie with an animal in the lead, he usually wants them dead.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Played with. He's annoying, but The Other Guy keeps him in place through disproportionate means. (Like punching him back into a review)
** That said the Critic gives at least as good as he gets considering that he repeatedly berated and beat up Rob without any real provocation in his review of ''Franchise/XMen''.
* AntiHero: He's arguably one of the few characters to be anywhere on the scale, depending on the episode in question:
** He's a ClassicalAntiHero most of the time.
** He eventually settles on KnightInSourArmor in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee since he has genuinely altruistic motives and no real KickTheDog moments other than indulging Chick's hate of Lupa by giving her Lupa's number so they could prank call her. Earlier on...
** He arguably leaned towards a PragmaticHero since Suburban Knights, as he genuinely cares for his team mates and shows both courage and surprisingly strong leadership in the final battle.
** He ventures into UnscrupulousHero & NominalHero when he's angry, and has stayed here since coming back from the PlotHole as he's the devil's favorite. Lampshaded in ''Spawn'' when Kermit-Devil wants him to be the leader of the demon army ''because'' he's so awful now.
* TheAntiNihilist: The world sucks and he's all too aware that he's useless, but he still wants to do good.
-->'''Critic''': It's like trying to save a sinking ship with a bandaid. Anything I try to do would be completely pointless. '''Save me'''.
* AntiRoleModel: Doug tries to make it very clear that you ''shouldn't'' think of Critic as a badass or someone to look up to.
* ApologeticAttacker: "TO WAR! ...whenever you have the time."
* ApologizesALot: Doug's tendency to feel guilty for stuff that isn't remotely his fault soaks into Critic's persona the most, or at least until Donnie came into the picture, and after he died, Critic isn't apologizing for anything as Sage found out.
* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: Post-reboot, one of the most meta examples. [[http://ozscarface.deviantart.com/art/Who-controls-whom-355796707?q=favby%3ADouglasDarien%2F32971852&qo=106 This art favorited by Doug]] sums it up, as Critic is still broken and pathetic, but he treats his underlings like his dolls, characters are created to make things go his way, he can insult Doug whenever he wants, and he doesn't always fail when he rebels against actually being a character.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' he merges with the PlotHole threatening the Awesomeverse and sacrifices his physical body but essentially becomes the universe itself.]]
* TheAtoner: His accidental admission that he'd killed a Reno hooker by accident gives a new spin on his anger with the UnproblematicProstitution in ''Film/MilkMoney''. Less common sense, more trying to make up for what he did. This trait is especially apparent in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as even the trailers had his lines about finally having a chance to make up for his mistakes.
-->'''Optimus Prime''': I died for your sins.\\
'''Critic''': And clearly I will only die for mine.
** Subverted in ''Film/FoodFight'', when he at least gets that he's being punished for sins he's done, but blames himself for things he had nothing to do with. ''Fatal Fight'', the music from WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee when he killed himself, provides the anvil for anyone not getting it.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: As part of HypocriticalHumor, he gets distracted by a housefly in ''Ferngully II''. In other reviews, he'll get caught up in a sketch if the movie is too dull. Doug has stated in multiple vlogs that he's almost certain he has ADD, so that would explain why Critic can't seem to keep much focus on anything. There's a cute moment in ''The Uncanny Valley'' review where he goes all out on this trait.
-->'''Critic''': [[SarcasmMode Well that's something reviewers don't do]], lose focus. Like the time I saw Vin Diesel at the premiere of ''Fred 3'', neither of us would admit why we were actually there but- you might have noticed an edit there, because I got distracted with nothing to do with what we're talking about, my apologies, now let us return to our review ''Wicker Man II: I Was Really Ghost Rider''- you might have noticed another edit there but that happens when you have years of sexual repression building up and then all you can think about is Jessica Lange dressed up as a snowman with her big- you might have noticed another edit... and I'm just gonna stop there.
** In the ''Star Wars'' edition of Hotshot, he admits he's feeling bouncier than normal and is having a new idea every few minutes.
** In the “trying to look cool in leather” ending of ''Film/TheMatrix'', he gets distracted by Jim walking by, and Malcolm has to grab his chin in order to get him back to 'reality'.
** In his review of ''Film/CatsandDogs'', he quickly loses focus when he has a piece of string in front of him or is told to fetch a ball.
** In the review of his home movies, he unknowingly thinks his child self really needs ritalin.
** When the grandfather in ''Spy Kids 3D'' gets distracted by a butterfly, he gets annoyed because of the "reinforcing ADD stereotypes".
* AttentionWhore: The Nostalgia Chick gently bitches about his hogging all the limelight when he shows up dressed as Creator/TimCurry in her review of ''TheWorstWitch''. The beginning of ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' has him lapping up the praise of a huge crowd and choir music (because he's doing another commercials) like he's some kind of messiah. In “Old vs New: Spider-Man”, this is the reason why he doesn't just unfriend Hyper and be free of her guilt-tripping. By the time he's realized his own safety is more important, it's way too late.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: In the TGWTG universe, he's the boss. He gets walked over a lot, however, so that it really doesn't mean much. Phelous doesn't even remember his CatchPhrase. And while he's 'better' (as in his abuse works more to keep them under his control) with Malcolm/Tamara/Rachel, they still loathe him and think he's an idiot who deserves to be tortured. Even with Tamara and Malcolm, when Rob's there (and they're siding with him) Critic has no authority over anyone again, empty threat-ing them that he can buy and sell them like ABBA's dignity.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: This was the lyric playing when he tried getting up the courage to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback".
-->Oh, but he watches so sadly. How can he tell her he loves her? Yes, he would give his heart gladly...
** In a more toxic fashion, while he treats Malcolm and Tamara horribly, a lot of episodes (especially Matrix Month) show that he needs them and trusts them to take care of him.
* AxCrazy: Can be set off into crazed violence by sufficiently poor movies, and is pretty manic-depressive otherwise. Gets worse after he has to come down from being happy in the PlotHole, as [[spoiler:it's implied that he decides to check himself into an asylum after a particularly homicidal breakdown in the ''Master of Disguise'' review.]] Later on, his threat to Sci-Fi Guy to do a crossover with him (and do all the work) or else next time they're at a con he'll slit guy's wrists and leave him in a bathtub, is... ''special'' in creepy. ''Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'' is entirely based on what will happen if you control him too much and then suddenly take the RestrainingBolt away.
* BabysitterFromHell: Despite having babysit kids fine in the past, he treats Evilina horribly in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. Which should be fitting considering where she lives, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it very much.
** Expands beyond Evilina in ''Jurassic Park III'', as he says that whenever he feeds babies, he leaves the food five feet away from them because they're lazy and should work for their own meal.
* BackFromTheDead: Commits a HeroicSuicide in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but convinces Doug to bring him back in "The Review Must Go On". He regrets this by ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', but Evilina tells him he has to stay alive because killing him off got complaints the first time.
* BadassUnintentional: When he's ''trying'' to do anything, he's a FailureHero. By accident however (or when he's pissed enough), he's exploded cities, come back to life after getting killed and can tell the death star to blow up a DVD.
* BadDreams: PlayedForLaughs until WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee hit, where he was having nightmares about the PlotHole and waking up in a panic every time.
** By ''Jurassic Park III'', he still gets them, but he also gets “night-memes” - memes that he never wanted to do again but keep popping up anyway.
** A theme in “Is Eyes Wide Shut Artsy Porn”, where he explains nightmares as “scary faces in the dark exposing you at your very core” and after Will gets a rape threat, asks “how many nightmares have you had where you were naked and exposed to everyone?”.
** Used as a pretty telling sign of PTSD in “The Sixth Day”, where he casually says he wakes up every morning screaming and swearing from a bad night.
* BadLiar: [[SarcasmMode Sure]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs&feature=related they're treating you well, Critic]].
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: In the Transformers-Bratz arc, after he wakes up from getting chloroformed, he hides angrily in the bushes, shoots the Chick with a tranquilizer dart and sinisterly says it's his turn. It turns out that he just wanted to pretend he had power while trying to give her a self-esteem boost.
* BaitTheDog:
** For the first fifteen minutes of Lupa's “A Talking Cat” review, he seems nicer and more toned down from his comeback self; lets her talk the most, actually apologizes when a joke makes her sad, and submissively backs down from annoying her when she threatens to punch him. [[spoiler: but then in the halfway point he shoots her, and while she shoots him back later, he does it again before the episode ends]]
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he's bored and lets Erod runs the show for the first half of the review. But when Erod goes to bust the dvd early, he shoots the hammer out of his hand, reminds him who everyone comes to see and displays electric powers. He's also completely fine with killing Bay even when he thinks Bay is human and torturing Erod for not much reason.
* BasementDweller: It's a lovely house, but he lived with his mom until she died.
* BastardBoyfriend: In his mind at least. He's creepily enjoying descending on Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', sees nothing wrong with smacking Tamara around (she at least is his {{dominatrix}} too), is DrunkWithPower {{gaslighting}} Doug in “The Review Must Go On”, and wants a clone of himself as a SexSlave in “The Sixth Day”. Plus he owns a whip.
* BeardOfSorrow
* BeautifulAllAlong: We've seen him as a fairly {{gonk}}y dork as a young teenager, and he complains about being bullied because he looked and acted too much like ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', but he's grown up into a traditional PrettyBoy.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Parodied for silly laughs. With all the suicides, shots to the head and occasional getting the shit kicked out of him, you'd think he'd at least be a little scarred. Averted in the “Why Do We Love Zombies” title card though, with his eyes [[{{motif}} milky white]], skin greying and blue, and a ton of lesions. He ''is'' truly a zombie after all. While it never actually happens, a lot of Zod's threats to Critic are heavily based on averting this, with EyeScream, “spilled organs”, castration and general mutilation until he no longer looks human.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis:
** He went from an ManChild defender of kids due to his own past, to having no idea how they work ("so what do kids do? make tofu or something?") and smacking Evilina hard enough to make her cry while she had just slapped him lightly. He gets a lot worse later, as he comes in from ''killing'' a little girl in Maven's "Monster Mash" review.
** His new BabysitterFromHell side also continues in ''Film/JurassicPark III'', saying that whenever he feeds a baby, he puts the food five feet away from them because “lazy bastards should work for their own meal”. On a accidentally accurate note, he gives an example of a child nothing but oranges, which cause acid rashes and they can choke on them.
** Letting Malcolm get tortured by Dante Basco's fire powers and literally telling him “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” is a total 180 to his heartbroken Kirk impersonation in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''.
** ''Turbo'' dedicates about five minutes to how he's much more interested in being cruel to get results, instead of doing the honorable thing like he used to.
** The only way Rob can get saving the world through to him in ''Film/FantasticFour2005''review is appealing to his selfishness. And while ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' still had an element of selfishness, it was the self-loathing kind and this was the guy who stood up to Mechakara with no SecurityCling.
** ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' being mostly a ''Franchise/StarWars'' analogy, he was the hero who The Emperor (played by Rob) wanted dead and gone. Even before that, in the ''Titanic'' movie review, he was the troubled Darth Vader to Rob's controlling Emperor. In the ''Star Wars'' version of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', ''he's'' the Emperor (with the General as his Darth Vader) and relishes the power.
* BecauseImGoodAtIt: Variant. He relates to the Santa in "A Christmas Story" because he too hates his job but exploits it because ''other'' people think he's good at it.
* BecauseISaidSo:
** In the phone call with Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', where she's not even doing anything wrong, just phoning because of the GuiltComplex he's made her have, he loses his temper and makes up rules to “keep her from distracting him”.
** Turns out to be the case in ''Film/GhostDad'', as he's making up rules for Tamara/Malcolm to humiliate themselves with to punish them for torturing him.
* BeingGoodSucks: His very conscious decision to atone for his mistakes and sacrifice himself to save the world got turned into a parodox by RealLifeWritesThePlot, so he gave up and TookALevelInJerkass. Referenced in ''Is There Another Good Shyamalan Movie?'', as there's a notable pleading tone to his voice when he talks about how YouCantFightFate fucks over people who hadn't even wanted to be mean. There's also his great umbrage at ''Film/TheChristmasTree'' having the moral of “you always win when you are good”.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil:
** Sexual variant. The Spooning storyline continues in "The Strangest But Best Couples", when he acts [[spoiler: or at least tries, he gets creeped on fast in punishment for his homophobia]] like Spoony in the series.
** All the times he's been a DistressedDude, Hyper kidnapping him being the final straw, resulted in him being the kidnapper in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', holding people captive and forcing them to be his 'friends'.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Inverted. Whenever religion gets brought up, the ditziness is downplayed and he'll have intelligent things to say.
* BeneathTheMask: He's really scared of someone manipulative going inside his head and finding out all the nasty stuff he's feeling, so puts on a JerkassFacade and settles for complaining about being NotEvilJustMisunderstood.
** Enforced in “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”, as a chill patch makes him cute and safe and marketable about his love for Christmas, but when Tamara rips it off he turns into an embodiment of his NightmareFuelStationAttendant traits.
* BerserkButton:
** The "Bat Credit Card" and ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' drive him to psychopathic rage. By ''Christmas With The Kranks/Bunny Boobies'', both still make him angry, but he's more pissed off and upset that people keep wanting him to do both {{freak out}}s over and over. (Doug said in a 2012 interview that the former meme has given him a twitchy eye.)
** He can't stand children getting abused or having a film treating them like idiots and women not having the power they should have.
** He also hates it when a parent death is treated solely as a plot device with little emotional resonance.
** Movies based on historical tragedies, like the animated ''Titanic'' films and ''Pearl Harbor'', get a lot of hate for mis-portraying real disasters where thousands of people died for the sake of narrative or dramatic convenience.
** Since the show began again in 2013, the Critic ''despises'' [=TMZ=].
** Even after the reboot, he hates it when people bring up ''Doug''. In the "Disney Afternoon" episode, when Malcolm said how good ''Doug'' was, there was a cut and Malcolm nursing a black eye and couldn't feel much in his mouth.
** If a movie has heavy-handed symbolism and religious metaphors, the Critic will show it no mercy.
** He would also kindly like you to not say the proper name of ''[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales DT]]'' because the [[EarWorm theme song]] finally got out of him.
** Despite him lampshading that they ended in a sweet place at WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, a little girl gets beaten to death (offscreen) because she mistook him for the Nerd.
** One that he will dedicate entire episodes to are frivolous copyright claims to silence criticism that could hurt profits and reputation. See: Tommy Wiseau, Hollywood in general...
** Anyone but himself bringing up ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Dr Hack at the end of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' got a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for saying the show's concept would make him money, and Yo in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' uses it to intentionally make him ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject.
** He never really enjoyed it, but TestosteronePoisoning seems to genuinely anger him in reboot. Even when he's into it he feels guilty and complains that he doesn't want to fit into his gender.
** Ever since Hyper kidnapped him, he hates people being too calm about being held hostage. A lot of '' The THIRD Animated Titanic Movie'' is him getting loudly upset about it.
* {{BFG}}: To demonstrate that he's got more power, "A Talking Cat" and "Disney Afternoon" swap out his small iconic handgun with a bigger, scarier gun.
** The gun he uses to threaten Hyper Fangirl with in her third vlog is big enough to actually scare her into leaving him alone for once.
* TheBGrade: Inverted. An A- was such a rare occasion that he got a trip to Chuck E Cheese whenever that happened. The bullying and always moving to new places probably had something to do with it.
* BigBad: The closest thing to one in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} [[spoiler: and "The Review Must Go On".]]
* BigEater: If all the junk food in the first Commercials Special is any indication, especially as he'd been sitting in the same place and stuffing himself for a ''week''.
* BirthdayHater: Odd for such a LonelyRichKid, but the only gift-giving holiday he enjoys is Christmas. He also loves Halloween, for slightly [[EthicalSlut different]] [[NightmareFetishist reasons]].
* BiTheWay: [[TransparentCloset Even if he goes back and forth in being okay with it or not]].
** In ''X-Men: Raiders Of The StoryArc'', he basically comes out when he replies to a subtextual conversation with "I thought we were like this because the conservative right said we chose it" in a normal voice.
** In ''Forest Warrior'', despite the [[invoked]] MisaimedFandom of thinking Chuck's homophobia is just misunderstood, Film Brain replies “thought you might” to Critic liking “[[DoubleEntendre hard wood]]”, and Critic tells him at the end that he loves him. “And I do mean in that way”.
** He gleefully mocked part of his audience at the end of “Rise Of The Commercials”, where he innuendoes plenty on how to give good blowjobs, and when that makes them boo instead of the Canada rape jokes, he says he looks forward to losing them as viewers before leaving.
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he's into Nicole Kidman (though as he vehemently says, not as a sixteen year old), Angelo D'Angelo and whoever Kidman's male stunt double is, saying that a guy doing her biking tricks makes his jerking off to it "both more and less awkward".
** DepravedBisexual: Slots into the role a little too well in "The Review Must Go On", as he coos that Doug is cute, rides Mark Wahlberg's fake penis in ''Film/BoogieNights'' just to freak him out, threatens him while calling him 'Tinkerbell' and behaving like he's checking off a lot of items on the DomesticAbuser list.
** The first couple of retooled ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' episodes had him hitting on all the male contestants he kidnapped, and flirting with General Anesthetic, first wanting to be invited to an S&M party and second asking if he looks pretty in a pink tiara.
** AnythingThatMoves: In “The Sixth Day”, he disgusts Sci-Fi Guy by assuming Arnold would “test out” the really creepy doll, and has an Ask That Guy moment when he shrugs and reasons “a mouth is a mouth”. [[spoiler: There are also two Critics in the end (...just go with it) and they both want to fuck each other.]]
* BizarreTasteInFood: He doesn't see the big deal about having a coffee, beer, pepto-bismal, Chinese food and pizza slurpie, or sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hotpockets with lard on the side and butter taken from real liposuctions. No wonder Santa Christ had to cure him from diabetes.
* BlessedWithSuck: ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' calls his increased meta (and reality warping) skills in the reboot “ruining”, which he uses to his advantage but makes him crueler and even more depressed than he was when he didn't know he was a character.
* BloodKnight: A lot more pronounced in reboot. Against his will to be fair to him, as in ''Maximum Overdrive'' he craves the violence, but also doesn't want to be stereotypically male and realizes he should question it. Just doesn't want to.
* BoisterousWeakling: Although the "getting ordered around" bit (and sometimes getting beaten too) [[{{fetish}} doesn't]] bother him.
* BrainlessBeauty: For a time in ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He's been talent-bended so he has no emotion, but it also makes him coincidentally do everything he's told, and sets the blue PuppyDogEyes on full-time.
* BrainsAndBondage: He's a GeniusDitz masochist who loves toppy women. In the first Nerd Rant, he's ''proud'' of how he tortures himself.
-->'''Critic''': So what's the point in seeing The Lost World? For you, none. For me, I'm a glutton for fucking punishment.
** When Tamara is thankful she doesn't have to be the Ana in a 50 Shades review, he complains at her that ballgags are surprisingly comfortable. When she asks how would he know, he lies “...research”.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he's smart enough to keep a HostageSituation going without getting arrested (though in Critic-show he's threatened with it a couple of times) and wants to be on General Anesthetic's leash as well as be invited to one of his play parties.
** Turns out in ''Blade'' that he got his Hotshot kink wish, as he says the bloodbath is meant to be scary, but you can see it at any goth club along with rubber gimps.
* BreakTheCutie: Finally driven home in the "Commercials Special" when he bemoans that he used to have such dreams and promise. And in a more simple use of the trope, any time he gets a seriously bad movie - ''Film/TheNeverendingStory 3'' springs immediately to mind.
** It turns out that the fuck-up lists were breaking him. He stopped fighting it at the beginning of the third episode, and at the end his frustration over ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' leads into a screaming tantrum about everyone being horrible. Even ''Douchey'' feels bad for him.
* BreakTheHaughty: He thinks doing a LetsPlay is going to be '''so''' easy, much easier than actually analyzing something. He really gets proven wrong.
** After his psychotic creeper-dom in "The Review Must Go On", "Son Of The Mask" gets him lower than even the beginning of ''ScoobyDoo''. He's looking through garbage cans for stuff to review, goes back to bitching at the audience for wanting to see him suffer, is constantly scared by the movie to the point of ExhaustedEyebags (which is a first), begs Santa Christ to help him but gets abused, is told he's meant to suffer, suffers a heart attack and doesn't look especially happy about surviving it, begs Satan and his daughter to kill him but gets refused, plus a reference to his WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee death has him crawling on the floor and crying so hard he sounds like he's about to choke.
** Somewhat in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, as he treats Joe terribly and would very much like to think he's Superman given the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' speech playing in his head, but Zod makes him scared, mocks him for a crappy speech and the episode takes no interest in him after he's being held hostage.
* BrilliantButLazy: He knows how to take over the world but doesn't want to tell, and he can learn languages really fast when he's obsessing over something meaningless, but mostly he hasn't got the will or the self-esteem to change his life for the better. He got off his ass and succeeded in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' and a few months after, but even that got retconned.
* BrokenAce: Comes off like this in the reboot. Gets the voice actors to act out Pinky And The Brain splitting up, takes down TMZ, lectures executives constantly on where they're going wrong... is losing more of his mind and is confirmed to hallucinating/reality warping a lot, wants to be back in the PlotHole on several occasions, and has pushed away everyone who once cared about him because he was such an asshole upon return. Lampshaded hilariously harshly at the start of ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'', when the announcer asks why someone of so little worth gets so many favors from famous people.
* BrokenPedestal: With Santa Christ. In ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' he's disappointed to learn that the guy actually has a dark side, and said dark side is mostly focused on being cruel to him.
* BrokenRecord: When Rob is yelling at him (or dragging him off in the alternate scenes) at the end of ''Speed Racer'', mostly all he can do is beg he's sorry over and over in a tearful high pitched voice.
* BrokenTears:
** ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' has his crying disturbingly realistic for once, with choking sounds, a red face and dropping out of camera to the floor so nobody can see him.
** His crying in ''Film/FoodFight'' is painful as well, as he's curled up on the floor, clawing his scrunched up face and emitting noisy sobbing.
* ButtMonkey: While he tries to act like a successful MeanBoss during crossovers, either the others get the upper hand or his own patheticness does him in. Hyper and Devil Boner also mock him for his DistressedDude status at their hand, beaming with pride at the other for holding him hostage so well.
* ByronicHero: An impulsive cynic who has a TraumaCongaLine backstory. He ''wants'' to be good, but his self-hate and temper keep getting in the way.
* CameBackWrong: ''Something'' has changed from the self-loathing atoner from 2011/2012[=/=]WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and the MessianicArchetype he was. Announcing his return, he had the same PsychoticSmirk he kept wearing in his torment of Doug, shouts more than he ever used to, the opening joke of Timothy Green is him killing a cat, insults people even '''more''', his {{Stepford Smiler}} traits have been flanderized, slurs at women get shoehorned in, and he's back to HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday after years of indulging.
** Gets another boost in ''Turbo'', as Zordon gets angry at him for not doing the honorable thing and taking the easy way out but Critic is not apologetic. Remember that even in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' Ma-Ti praised him for being loyal and strong.
* CameBackStrong: [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity There are plenty of things off]], but in terms of the fourth wall he's a lot more aware of who's running the show, and what he can do if things don't go his way.
* CannotKeepASecret: He might have UndyingLoyalty, but his promise to Chester that he'd keep the Search For The Necronomicon just between them lasted for about twenty seconds.
* CannotSpitItOut: The look on his face after he just can't get up the nerve to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback" (and she doesn't notice) is almost depressing.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: [[spoiler: The Critic never suspected that God would be watching his "Old vs. New" video of ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' vs. ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt''. He thought God was a benevolent and kind being, but God didn't let him get away with that statement.]]
-->'''God:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner "Your ass is grass."]]
* CantHoldHisLiquor: In the Snob/Phelous crossover, he was drunk and weepy by 6pm, not even knowing who Rob was, messier than usual, craving Ninja Turtles (even the third movie) and crying that he used to like ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. Snob called it "shockingly depressing" and Phelous wanted to hang himself. He compares ''Film/EightCrazyNights'' to [[NoodleIncident that time]] he puked from having too much eggnog.
* CaptainObvious: Yes darling, you're white and male. You don't need to keep asking or stating that fact.
** Unless they're sad (like his "zombies are a metaphor for getting used to depression" theory), editorials usually have a talent for stating what everybody already knows. Nobody really needed to be told again that kids should watch scary moments in movies but in moderation.
* CassandraTruth:
** When he tries to put Rocky's message of "people can change" to the real world, he gets punched and shot at.
** In a less joke and more making a point version, he's depressed when he tries to tell Santa Christ about what Hyper did to him and just gets victim blamed.
-->'''Critic''': You're never gonna be on my side are you?
* TheCastShowoff: [[invoked]] Doug has a singing voice made for musical theater which he puts on display fairly often.
** He and his brother are also skilled at impressions and other voices, which they also put on display... in practically every Nostalgia Critic video.
** Less often than the singing, but he also likes to show off that he's a very good dancer. The ''Transformers 4'' crossover takes time out to have a few minute dancing contest, which is essentially just an excuse to show off his (and Erod's) dancing skills.
** In ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'', he brought back bad memories for art students when he makes some very good drawings in under a minute, calls them crap assuming everyone would agree with him, and throws them away.
** ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' shows his Burton shrine filled with drawings, and when Critic angrily squirms that they're crap, Burton kindly says “but some of it's good”.
* CatBoy: Much to [[http://thatchickwiththegifs.tumblr.com/post/140712794040/catnc-vs-dognc-cats-and-dogs-review tumblr's enjoyment]], the mother in “Cats And Dogs” makes him bat string like a cat, and play fetch like a dog. The announcers also literally call him a poodle, canon that fangirl fandom has gleefully taken to heart.
* CatSmile: When he's trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.
* CharacterCheck: For all [=NuCritic=]'s pedophile and beating children jokes/actions, he's genuinely sorry at the start of "Why Lie About Santa" when he makes a load of kids cry. The old morals can't last long though, as he happily does it at the end.
** Despite being slightly sadder and NightmareFetishist about it, his reboot CameBackWrong personality doesn't stop his Christmas excitement.
** In “A Talking Cat?!”, he quickly goes passive with Lupa when he annoys her and she yells at him (like he used to do with other female producers and Lupa herself in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''), whereas with Rachel and Tamara he's hit them for much less. And while he does shoot her (which Doug lampshades in the bloopers as shittier than when she does) later on, she shoots him right back.
** One with his reboot self. When he's with Black Willy Wonka in ''Film/TheLorax'', suddenly all the preaching about pandering vanishes and he would much rather have money than praise.
** After ages dominating Rachel, his sub side comes back up in ''Film/TheWickerMan'', wanting to be the island women's SexSlave and offering Tamara a job when she tortures him.
** One that is both in-universe and out, Critic gets a reminder in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' that the only reason why he started reviewing was because a long history of abuse made him desperate to be loved.
* CausticCritic: The fact that he's a DeconstructiveParody of one, focusing on how ''miserable'' the job is, has become more clear as time goes on.
* CharacterDevelopment: He's a ManChild with a DarkAndTroubledPast and lots of issues. The past couple of years however, he's still of course a brat, but also a PapaWolf who has basically declared himself a defender of kids well-being and intelligence.
** There's been a nice shift in power dynamics with his relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick. At first, he's condescending and just treats her like an extension of him, also being so awkward that he has to pretend to be Rasputin to hit on her. But as she grew into the sociopath we know and love, he trusts her ([[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} to almost dumbass degrees]]), wants her to be proud of herself and wants to spend time with her.
** As probably part of MiseryBuildsCharacter, his attitude towards Harley Quinn and the Joker's relationship. In his Top Eleven Animated Women, he has the hots for her (naturally) and likes the couple because it "gives homicidal maniacs like him a chance". In his Top Eleven Batman Episodes, he feels sorry for her, talks about how the pairing sums up DomesticAbuse in a nutshell and his one complaint about the episode is the {{fanservice}} of doctors in mini-skirts.
** He's become a lot more respectful towards women, dislikes stereotypical manliness (he's quite a SissyVillain himself) and has undying love for {{badass}} girls. The "Top Eleven Hottest Animated Women" list had skeeviness reminiscent of WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses.
** In his first top eleven, the Scariest Nostalgic Moments, he calls the VillainSong in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWondlernad Care Bears In Wonderland]]'' gay and mentions that if you watch ''Franchise/CareBears'' long enough you see the face of the devil. When he actually reviews the three movies, he of course still thinks they're sickeningly sweet but is a lot more mature about explaining his problems with them.
** He started being calmer(ish) and giving a general review at the end of his episodes after ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' became the utter pinnacle of badness in his eyes.
** After the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' debacle, he's learned not to be entitled and complain about having to watch something when it's a movie he actually bought or rented.
** Compare the reviews of ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' and ''Film/AlienResurrection''. The former has him salivating over a RelationshipWritingFumble between two young-looking sisters and the latter a few years later has him irritated over how it was just advertised to get the male demographic in.
** All of the above become a plot-point in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[spoiler: when Doug tells him that he's evolved over the years from an abrasive comedy character into a decent and three-dimensional person.]]
** Part of the speech at the end of ''Christmas With The Kranks'' is addressing people who think his development has been undone since TBF, sadly noting that he ''has'' changed from then, in quite a few ways, but development doesn't always mean being a better person.
* CharacterFilibuster: If his "child abuse" BerserkButton gets hit, the review will stop for a few minutes so he can get all his rant out.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Going from a happy, fanboying proto-Chester to a manic-depressive cynic, to Atoner for [[spoiler:the death of Ma-Ti]], to [[spoiler:self sacrificial saviour of the Awesomeverse]], to an abusive, depressed, condescending MetaGuy with too much power.
** In the ''Super Mario Brothers'' movie, he's grossed out by the big bertha and makes no fuss about the SatelliteLoveInterest either being a DistressedDamsel or getting a flame thrower at the end. Watching it now, it's just... strange.
** Also in the early days, he talked about kids' short attention spans and getting easily bored. With his hate for LullDestruction, can you imagine him saying that now?
** In his second Nerd rant, he doesn't even know what a compliment is. Fast forward to now and he's ''desperate'' for a movie to give him something good to say.
** Something that applies to both Critic and Doug, but when they did a segment on how much they liked a film (think until about early 2010), their tone was more muted and Critic in the “Top Five Video Game Movies” practically sounds like he's on downers. After that, Doug let his absolute ''love'' for movies shine through everything, letting us get the {{keet}}ish fanboy we know and enjoy.
** In 2007/2008 days, take a drink for how many times he calls anything he doesn't like “gay”. In later years, aside from having open crushes on men, even by ''Captain N'' he was apologizing for bottom of barrel gay jokes.
** It's weird to see him go on about how much he loves basketball in ''Film/SpaceJam'', when he makes it pretty clear he's not a sports guy later on, and Rob's mocked Doug for showing no interest in sports in a few vlogs.
* CharacterTics: Puckering his mouth when he's thinking, giving a DeathGlare with his mouth slightly open when he's trying to be angry but failing, and rubbing his chest any time he feels particularly naughty. The last is a Doug thing, as Ask That Guy does it and he himself is prone to it too. Reboot introduced clawing at the walls when he's in a particularly crazed-angry mood, as well as a wide-eyed pout when he's smugly trying to act innocent after he's said something shitty.
* TheChewToy: Part of the fun is seeing just how much he can suffer through a bad film before [[FreakOut he'll snap completely]].
** Not that he doesn't often deserve it, but the other contributors really do enjoy humiliating him. Even a long-dead [[VincentPrice guy]] has his fun.
* ChivalrousPervert: He gets upset at unneeded {{fanservice}}, [[PrincessesRule princesses]], [[DistressedDamsel damsels in distress]], [[SatelliteLoveInterest male-dependent women]] and so on, but he'll make it clear if he's attracted to a (usually toppy or curvy) lady.
** A good early example would be ''A Kid In King Arthur's Court'', as he creepily leers over the two sisters and wants incestuous lesbian sex, but also coins "dumbass in distress disorder", calling out films like this and others for having a strong woman in the first two acts yet needing a man to save her in the third.
** In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie Care Bears]]'' movie, his main theory about why the villain's voice is so cool is that she's getting oral while she does her lines. He then proceeds to act it out. (Her responses, not the eating out part.)
** He actually gets on fairly well with the site ladies and doesn't treat them any differently, but he's stated that he finds them all nice-looking.
* ChubbyChaser: Most of the women he's attracted to are on the voluptuous side.
-->'''Critic''': [when slow-motioning Rogue's bust] I'm a dirty young man yes I am.
** It also helps that he now has a [[{{BigBeautifulWoman}} Big Beautiful Woman]] wife.
* ClassClown: Subverted. He got pitied and bullied for not acting his age in eighth grade, although that hasn't stopped him from ''still'' not acting his age.
* ClosetKey: For Malcolm, who acted in the first Hyper vlog that this is his first crush on a guy and is “coming to terms” with it.
* CloseToHome:
** In the "Top 11 Disney Villains", Lady Tremain is the only one he wants to punch in the face that he hates so much. Lady Tremain of course being the only abusive parental figure on the list. And in the ''Cinderella Old vs New'', he gets very passionate about how relatable and actually strong the animated Cinderella is compared to the new, who he feels the creators tried to make flawless in an attempt to update the character.
** Anything that has kids getting hurt by adults, whether it's abuse, neglect, too much pressure or just bad messages. He has a big rant about ''ATrollInCentralPark'' giving the message that dreams can do anything, with his two examples being a dead dog coming back to life or divorced parents getting back together.
** A lot of his choices in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” are about people descending into insanity, or locked in their crazy not being able to get out, and making the relating explicit when he sadly says the scariest monsters are human and he (or anyone else) could act like one at any time.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: Usually serves this role for Chester, in that he'll look after him but sometimes take advantage of his need for drugs.
* ColorMotif: Blue. The lighting is often blue ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Doug apparently sucks at white balance]]), the wall went from a warm yellow-orangey in prime to white in reboot and then to a cold blue when people complained, he's got InnocentBlueEyes, and he [[WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee exploded into blue particles when he died]].
* CompensatingForSomething: Not in a “it's tiny” sense, the multiple crotch shots Doug likes joss that, but in the vein that it doesn't work due to all the groin attacks and he's having issues with this. There's a PlotThread from ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' to ''Film/TheShining'', where he reveals it in the former, gets passive aggressive at Leon in “Is The Big Lebowski A Masterpiece” for mentioning castration, and is really violent to Rachel in ''Shining'' to get his manhood back.
* CompositeCharacter: In reboot, people have noticed he has a lot more Ask That Guy traits (who vanished for ages and then came BackForTheDead), especially in WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot where Doug is improvising like he did for the former and episodes like “The Sixth Day” where he threatens MakeItLookLikeAnAccident deaths and is AnythingThatMoves.
* CompressedVice:
** ''Christmas Story II'' has the plot be Critic potentially losing his love for Christmas because of the bad movie, when 1) even he lampshades that will never happen and 2) the whole plot of the last review had the problem be that he loved Christmas ''too'' much (plus in the next week's editorial he rushes through it because again, wants it to be Christmas faster, and the ''Care Bears Nutcracker'' beginning has him suffering Christmas withdrawal).
** In ''Film/ThePurge'', he suddenly has a huge issue with being redundant, with even Malcolm asking why he'd risk his own life for that. Might just be self-righteous hypocrisy instead, considering he's doing the crossover that Film Brain demanded and he slaps Casper off after he says the above, but it's not made clear either way.
* CondescendingCompassion:
** After strawing him, ignoring him and having very little empathy, he eventually explains to Joe why ''Joe'' likes ''Film/ManOfSteel''. [[VillainHasAPoint Zod mocks him for the sad attempt at being a hero right afterwards]].
** PlayedForLaughs in “When Is A Movie Just A Movie” when his point is good (there are bigger problems than just movies) yet slathers on the condescension about how you can choose to not be effected by a movie. His ending is that he's the one with final say over which film is worth getting upset over though, so it's not irritating.
** “Why Do We Love Stupid” starts with him talking about the Dalai Lama's video on how compassion isn't weak but not quite getting the gist, using it to assume his “all comedy is misery” BiasSteamroller again.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror:
** The bad upbringing gives him a few moments, like thinking every family have regular giant arguments at dinner, rape not being considered a special type of evil or defending kinky fantasies at a very young age.
** Lampshaded in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics”, where he admits that abusive family stuff at Halloween probably hasn't happened to you, but he has a past.
** He's also been taught to think that friendship is getting punished if you don't do what the more important one says.
* ConflictingLoyalty: Between his religious belief and wanting scientific proof that God exists. Mostly this is kept to the background not to offend anyone.
** In ''Maximum Overdrive'', he ''really'' wants to be a BloodKnight and perv on the violence, but also ''really'' wants to not be confined to his gender as his other hand keeps making him read Jane Austen whenever there's a violent scene.
** With Hyper. On the one hand he's scared of her, hates her enough to not even consider her a real person, has issues with kidnapping, and wants her gone. On the other hand he's tired enough to ShowSomeLeg[=/=]offer friendship in hopes that she'll leave him alone and not hurt him more. On the other other hand, even before StockholmSyndrome kicked in he indulged her because she gave him attention.
* ConstantlyCurious: In the first two commercial specials, even though he figures that the two 1800 numbers are run by pedophiles, he calls them anyway. (And doesn't hang up even though he's disgusted, but that's a different problem.)
* ConvertedFanboy: While played straight with WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, Critic gaining memories of Doug's vlogs and calling it his most favorite show ever, oddly subverted with WesternAnimation/AdventureTime; Doug often talks about how it's made him feel better and safer when he watches it, but while references to it have seeped into the show, Critic is more resistant to the strangeness and only calls it a case of stupid comedy that works. This changed in “Are Kid Shows Now Better Than Ever” though, as he praised it for “I Remember You”, canon gay with PB/Marcy being ex-girlfriends, tackling Bubblegum's need for political control in a sympathetic way, and being a comedy that isn't afraid of going into depressing territory.
* TheCorrupter: He has this unintentional ability to turn otherwise basically decent people into sadists. (Like Lewis and Doug agreeing that Linkara put the idea to rape Critic into Spoony's head.)
* CorruptTheCutie: He was a Catholic schoolboy, and while he's still religious, now he has an active sex life that isn't so big on SafeSaneAndConsensual.
-->'''Critic A''': ["apologizing"] What would Jesus do?
-->'''Critic B''': [instantly horny] Take me!
* CosmicPlaything: He really should stop pissing off beings with more powers than him.
* CosplayOtakuGirl: A RareMaleExample. An [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} M Bison]] costume that he brags got him tons of pussy, a {{stripperiffic}} [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Link outfit]], and, for his review of ''{{Transformers}}'', an Optimus Prime suit with a conspicuous crotch bulge that we get to look at every now and then.
* CrazyJealousGuy: For Chick. He can't always stop it coming through the stronger IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy feeling. He's wary over her obsession with Todd, gets all growly when she fawns over Creator/JewWario in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights, and looks close to tears (to her credit, so is she) when he mentions she doesn't always return phone calls or emails.
** He's a far less sympathetic version in “The Review Must Go On”, as he makes assumptions about Demo Reel that just aren't true, and refuses to leave until Doug caves in bringing him back.
** To give a nod to the WebVideo/DemoReel example, he outright admits that he would give a positive review to The Uncanny Valley if he were in it, but he's not so has no choice.
** In ''Film/FoodFight'', he's breaking before over failing to get money, but Malcolm and Tamara {{squee}}ing over something together and ignoring him is the final straw as he trudges out. In the next review, ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', his punishment for them (which doesn't go over well) is to stay in the closet.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he gets possessive over anything that he considers his, from the Alf doll to [[HomoeroticSubtext General Anesthetic]].
* CrazyPrepared: “What You Never Knew About TMNT” is a video Critic just so happened to release in case he got captured by a crazy fan.
* CrazySurvivalist: He prepares with his gun, a police jacket, a S.W.A.T helmet, knuckle dusters and a baseball bat to watch ''Secret Of NIHM 2''.
* CreepyGood: When he wants to be disturbing, his mannerisms and voice are reminiscent of HIM from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. Just listen to him at the start of [[http://blip.tv/nostalgia-chick/nostalgia-chick-bratz-2723840 this]].
* CreepyShadowedUnderEyes: When an episode gives him black smears under his eyes (and it's not just Doug looking tired with no help), then it's a sign he's breaking harder than normal.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Remember that video with ''Bebe's Kids''? Remember how he complained so much? Remember how he did not complete the game? Apparently he is a good enough gamer to slam Angry Joe into next week in ''Marvel vs Capcom 2''.
-->'''Angry Joe:''' This man WHUPPED MY ASS!"
** He gets a BreakTheHaughty CurbStompBattle once Joe gets a [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/02/mvc3-grudge-match-angry-review/ brand new joystick though]].
* CrustyCaretaker: The only other job he's had is Doug's factory cleaner gig (this was when Doug was still in school) and he got in trouble for hitting on "Amanda" too much.
* CuteBookworm: He may not have all that much common sense, but have you ever noticed the vast amounts of books he owns?
* CuteButCacophonic: He sounds like a howler monkey when he really gets worked up with shouting, and there are people who don't even like his normal voice, stating they watch his episodes muted.
* CuteButPsycho: Sometimes sweet and {{adorkable}}, sometimes blowing up an entire city by accident because of a tantrum.
** Getting a SoProudOfYou from the Devil for a torture suggestion makes him giggle about having a lot to work with.
** “Psychotic princess” is the only way to describe him in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he gleefully kidnaps people to force them to be his friends, and keeps asking if he looks pretty in the winning tiara. He does.
* CuteGlassesBoy: It's not that Doug isn't attractive anyway, but his glasses make him look very baby-faced.
* CuteMute: He's been traumatized into silence a few times, one of which was in Spooning With Spoony. Noah revealed in his commentary that the reason why Critic only had one line in that was because Doug wanted to play the victim as much as possible.
* CutenessProximity: He squees himself into teenage girl mode when he sees Snuffaluffagus in ''Series/SesameStreet''.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Adds another level of funny when you get that he has all these things he could justifiably complain about and he chooses to focus on shitty movies instead.
** Lampshaded in “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” where he says fucked up shit happening with family might not have happened to you much, but he's got a history.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Doug said once that he chose the black suit jacket to establish the Critic as the asshole to the Nerd's white-clad "hero", but also had the red tie and white shirt to offset any BlackAndWhiteMorality that may have came from it.
* DarkSecret: Accidentally strangling a hooker to death after WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} and while still in Reno. He admits this while thinking the camera's not on yet.
* DarkMessiah: He's friends with the devil, sold his soul, ''has'' saved the world three times and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' involves him being compared to Superman right before he has a screamfest about how the movie sucks.
* DatingCatwoman: According to Doug and Lindsay, he and the Chick have this sort of relationship. There's an interesting contrast between the Chick's crazed addiction to get Todd noticing her and her mutually bitchy but fun and warm dynamic with the Critic.
* DeadpanSnarker: Mixed in with StepfordSnarker and bitterness.
* DealWithTheDevil: He's so desperate to have to have Sequel Month erased from his memory that he'll do whatever Sage tells him to do. He traded his soul away to Malcolm's devil for the ability to do a Zod impression, which showed how little anything means to him post-retcon.
* DeathByDespair: After fully breaking down about how his life has gone nowhere, he gets about an inch away from it in his first commercials special.
* DeathByMaterialism: Downplayed. He doesn't die for being OnlyInItForTheMoney in regards to ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', but he does end up in a worse place of sanity than he was already.
* DeathSeeker: You know, you could just leave the room or switch off the TV instead of trying to off yourself constantly.
** After his brief period of happiness in the PlotHole, it's got even worse. In ''Son Of The Mask'' he's begging Satan to see sense and just let him die again.
** Right after Evilina tells him her dad will kill him if he finds out he left her alone, he agrees to come back, but looks over the horizon, stays that little extra longer and hits her later. And in ''Devil'' he outright goads [[spoiler: who he thinks is the Devil]] into killing him.
** In ''Ghost Dad'', [[spoiler: while he's only pretending to have died to torture Malcolm and Tamara]], he still poured gasoline all over himself and has nostalgic feelings over how nice it is to be dead.
* DefiantCaptive: Until he sees all the boy-pandering comics and StockholmSyndrome starts setting in, he gets in a few sarcastic comments to Hyper about the assassin pointing a gun at him or how long she's planning on keeping him for.
* [[DeliberatelyCuteChild Deliberately Cute Man-Child]]: In "Return Of The Commercials" after "killing things smaller than gives you power!" and an EvilLaugh, he giggles like a puppy-eyed girl when she's just been caught painting the walls.
* DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel: Hams it up like a stereotypical maiden when he thinks Todd is a "masked intruder" there to rape him, and sulks big time when he founds it's just time for a crossover.
* DemonicPossession: In the AVGN vs. NC Final Battle, he gets possessed by the devil when he's losing and can only be killed for a short period by Super Mecha Death Christ.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In his own reviews, Doug writes Critic as an ExtremeDoormat who'll always end up giving in to other contributors demands for a crossover. In others (like TheRapCritic's review of Shaq's album), he'll have the stones to ignore any request.
** Even with the BaitTheDog moment of being nice and subby then shooting her for no reason (which Doug lampshaded in the bloopers as grosser when he does it to a woman than vice versa), he's a lot less TroubledButCute in Lupa's "A Talking Cat" review, making more casual jokes and not treating her like he does Rachel or Tamara.
** He was always ditzier and more childlike in the ''Child's Play'' reviews with Phelous. Ended up contributing to their DramaticIrony dynamic [[spoiler: Phelous is WrongGenreSavvy because he thinks Critic is still a cowardly manchild, but in reality he's an atoning DeathSeeker]] in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee though, so TropesAreNotBad.
** In “The Review Must Go On”, when the Creator tells a seething Donnie that he'll be more understanding as the Critic, review!Critic mocks that the only 'understanding' videos are the editorials and the rest of the time he's even nastier than before.
* DesignatedMonkey: WordOfGod says he was ''created'' to suffer. Deconstructed in ''ScoobyDoo'' onwards, where he breaks down over how hellish his life is and wants nothing more than to do something good for once.[[invoked]]
* DespairEventHorizon: He's already well past it when ''Film/TheNeverendingStory III'' begins. He approaches it at the end of ''Film/MyPetMonster'' and start of the following "Nostalgic Commercials" video, falling over the edge near the end.
** The death of Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' slowly eroded away what was left of his sanity and it all came to a head at the beginning of the ''ScoobyDoo'' review.
** From "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green" to "Does Romeo And Juliet Suck", he hypocritically (because he's gone right back to square one) preaches of how people grow up and learn to adapt. But all the misery comes flooding back in ''SonOfTheMask'' and he begs for death, so after that, nothing more is said about learning from your mistakes.
** All the meta from ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' hurt him a lot more than he let on in that episode, as in the next editorial he ends it talking about fighting too hard for your freedom makes your prison bars so much stronger.
** There's a whole swathe of events to choose from, but whatever happened before “Why Do We Love Zombies” got a speech about getting used to depression and giving in, letting it destroy you.
** Confirmed by Doug on the commentary, Critic almost kissing Hyper was going to be a stockholm version. Luckily Bennie reverses it by revealing her plan, but there are still issues post episode.
** In the BadFuture of 2019, he's completely alone, cries in front of Snob (who owns both him and the site) and has clearly crossed it a long time ago with no hope left at all.
* {{Determinator}}: He'll run all the way from Chicago to Philly to fight the Nerd (which apparently takes two weeks) and he won't even get tired.
* DeterminedDefeatist: He knows he's pathetic, but carries on because at least he's resilient.
* DefiledForever:
** Other than Chick going into DontYouDarePityMe mode and wanting revenge, he's the only left broken over getting raped by Spoony. Even if WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee where he's trying to save him, the spooning is still on his mind.
** While the two weeks that Hyper held him captive is more of a DidTheyOrDidntThey, he was really fucked up by what she did to him, and always backs away when they're in close contact.
** In ''Jem'', he uses this feeling to empathize with Rob Scallon's [[spoiler: apparent]] trauma over being in the movie, and asks if he was safe at least.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: In “Cats And Dogs”, the abusive mother gets him to play fetch with her like he's a dog, and he realizes how pitiful it is to be happy about this when he's literally got the ball in his mouth.
* DirtyCoward:
** In ''Film/GhostDad'', he openly says he hopes his making Tamara and Malcolm feel shit about themselves will give him enough time to run to his car like a coward. [[spoiler: it doesn't.]]
** In the “Best Avatar Episodes”, he says “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” to Malcolm when he leaves him to die.
** When Bay shoots at them in the ''Transformers 4'' review, he runs off [[spoiler: to get the ElectricTorture chair that he rigged up]] and tells Erod to draw his fire.
** In ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', he immediately betrays Santa Christ. Though this is less dirty than most (he didn't want to get tortured and it's not like Santa Christ hasn't been horrible to him for a while), he's still cast as the Judas.
** In ''Film/HocusPocus'', he says the best way of dealing with the witches is "running away like a pussy".
* DisappearedDad: He's mentioned very rarely and Critic still lives with his mom. There's been a few hints that the parents got divorced. (This is in-character of course, Doug's dad - Barney Walker - has helped out a lot with music and such, therefore gets thanked in the credits.) In a 2015 ''Last Angry Geek'' episode, it was revealed that [[spoiler: Dr Smith]] was his father, and he'd [[spoiler: died of cancer]] not too long ago.
* DissonantSerenity: Before he goes into LackOfEmpathy, his ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'' post-explosion demenour is pretty blissful, knowing this day would come.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: When he's being all determined to face down the Nerd at Digital Press, he checks out his reflection in a shop window.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Dulcia of the ''PowerRangers Movie'' defeats a mob of "giant black chickens" by swinging two stick-weapons "throwing them into some kind of hypnotic trance":
-->'''Critic''': Yeah, how's that supposed to put you in a trance, taking two sticks and putting them up and down, up and down, up and down, [''cut to Dulcia in her BattleBikini''] up and down...up and down... [''picture slowly zooms in on her breasts'']...up and down...up and down... [''gets his hat knocked off''] [{{Beat}}] You win this round, Dulcea.
* DistressedDude: Has happened so many times that RealityEnsues and he's developed some serious issues because of it.
** He got kidnapped by the Game Heroes and was made to promote their stuff at gunpoint.
** When he was chloroformed by The Nostalgia Chick, he got just as much into the victim role.
** Spooning With Spoony II probably counts, seeing as how he was the only canon one who was roofied and judging by the details, Spoony really went to town on humiliating him.
** Made fun of in the ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' review where he acts like he's chained up.
-->'''Critic''': Next I bet you wanna hook up my nipples to a car battery, don't you? ''Don't you?''
** Also played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Care Bears Movie II|A New Generation}}'' when Christy's screaming wears him down even though he knows it's a trap.
-->'''Critic''': Oh my God, a bag!
** Teddy Ruxpin forces a gun in his mouth and makes him write a more positive review, killing him when he screams for help.
** Before Ma-Ti comes in to take the brunt of the abuse in the brawl, he spends most of the beginning on the floor. Both [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Linkara]] and the [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Chick]] joined in specifically to save him.
** Looks to be the case in Linkara's PreviouslyOn for ''Countdown'', with Chester in control and shot with HitlerCam, and Critic being shown in the opposite camera angle and surrounded by darkness. He recovers (with snark) better in this instance than he does the others.
** The amount of IHaveYouNowMyPretty moments he's been subjected to would make this list even longer.
** By ''Film/TheWiz'', all that distress seems to have warped his brain a little, as he's actually ''disappointed'' when learning Todd isn't a rapist LoonyFan who wants him.
** Near the end of ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod takes him hostage and would have slowly tortured him to death (making good on what was threatened in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'') if it hadn't been for Superman's intervention.
** He's alone with Shya-Amon in ''Devil'' and is about to get {{Mind Rape}}d again before Devil-In-Santa-Christ saves his ass.
** “What You Never Knew About TMNT” strongly implies that Hyper Fangirl kidnapped him, as he's suddenly 'missing until further notice and terrified' after she had broken into his house. Turns out that she'd taken him to a BigFancyHouse that she got from a previous stalking victim and was making him do 'romantic' stuff with her (under gunpoint and torture threats) until he fell in love with her. He reminds her of this in the ''Christmas Story II'' rant but is MadeOutToBeAJerkass.
** In the ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' parody of 2014's Nostalgiaween, he takes the place of Justine and get stabbed, although this might be an hallucination of his.
** Subverted in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, as he's technically there against his will, but he's fine and is especially happy watching losing contestants die. In the rebooted version, he's the one taking a page from Hyper and kidnapping people to try and make them his friends.
** For liking ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' more than ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', he gets kidnapped by Devil Boner, Improbable Joe and the other War Boys.
** Lampshaded in ''Christmas With The Kranks'', where he asks “why is it whenever I wake up I have a 50/50 chance of being held against my will”?
** PlayedForLaughs in “Cats and Dogs”, when he was apparently held hostage by a [[http://aattp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kid-with-gun-620x330.jpg this]] kid with a gun.
-->'''Critic''': I'm never taking that babysitting job again.
*** He's also creeped out by how calm the kid is while blindfolded and tied up, and says in his experience, he'd be scared shitless no matter what age he was.
** Also amusingly lampshaded in ''Cinderella: Old vs New'', as Hyper and Devil Boner are proud of the other for keeping Critic hostage so well.
** In the crossover review of ''BMX Bandits'', Diamanda Hagan uses General Anesthetic to hold him at gunpoint so he'll do the review with her. He's irritated but it's happened so much he takes it in stride.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: He's nearly always barefoot when playing around in his house.
* TheDogBitesBack: After getting beaten on by Casper for a whole episode, he puts on a Ghostbusters uniform and hunts him down.
** Likewise, with "True Internet Story", where he kicks the shit out of the Last Angry Geek for making wild accusations about his personality and earlier life.
* DomesticAbuser: In ''Film/TheShining'', it takes him no time at all to slip into abusive husband role to Rachel. She also acts like an abuse victim, rationalizing his behaviour and carrying on trying to help even when she's crying and he's toying with her.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In "Why Is Loki So Hot", he gets pissed about himself being put on [[invoked]] TheWoobie list [[note]]despite the fact that he isn't, he's on JerkassWoobie[[/note]] after reading that it means a character you feel bad for.
* DrinkOrder: Cupcake vodka. He has it in the PlotHole, and he wants it again when he's hallucinating in ''Film/TheShining''.
* DrivenByEnvy: Despite calling what he does analyzing (and being good at it), he'll always cut off the co-reviewer when they're "taking things too seriously". Chalk it up to his fear of AlwaysSomeoneBetter.
** He destroys Demo Reel and gives a bad review to The Uncanny Valley just because he doesn't like that [[Creator/DougWalker daddy]] wants to do other things that doesn't involve him for a change.
* DraggedIntoDrag: According to Spoony in his ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' video, he forced Critic to dress up like a dirty ballerina during Spooning With Spoony 2 and took pictures for blackmail.
* DragonWithAnAgenda:
** The other contributors think that he's the (ineffectual) MeanBoss of the site. In reality, it's The Other Guy (who answers to Michaud, who kidnapped him for [=BarFiesta=] and dismissed Critic as a monkey) and Critic's just a puppet with woefully poor self-esteem.
** Comes back in Sage's ''Speed Runner'' episode, where Critic kidnaps Sage and wants to keep him, but when Rob comes in and punishes him he's having a complete breakdown.
* TheDreaded:
** Malcolm tweeted after "The Worst Christmas Special Ever" that Critic now ''wants'' everyone to fear him.
** Brad name-drops the trope to refer to Critic before he comes out in the final round of the game show pilot.
* DrivenToMadness: ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' does this to the Critic in his 100th episode. It does it out of the ''sheer stupidity'' of the movie. So much so they sped the camera up for most of his breakdown.
** And ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' drives him [[IncrediblyLamePun 'batshit insane']], until he takes some pills. "Tranquilizers. Always come prepared when Schumacher is involved."
* DrivenToSuicide: In [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] review of Captain America, he asks for the Critics opinion on the movie, [[SeriousBusiness making sure he knows that if he doesn't]], [[KickTheDog he'll get blackmailed with crossdressing pictures from when he was roofied and raped]]. Cut to a shot of the Critic's elevated feet dangling from side to side while squeaking from a rope is heard.
-->'''Spoony''': "That's the coward's way out, and you know it, Critic!"
** After his "''{{Superman}}'' Top 11" review, the Critic mentions how the movies always make him smile, before remembering the tragic fates of Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and the World Trade Center.
--->''"I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm going to go kill myself."''
*** Not all ''Superman ''movies make him smile. From his ''Superman IV'' review. "How long is this movie again?" "Hour and a half." "BLAM!"
** ''Film/BioDome'' made him slash his wrists, although either he or someone else put plasters on them afterwards.
** The songs in ''The Pebble And The Penguin'' make him feel so dirty that he takes a bath with a toaster.
** It's made clear in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee that he's trying to toe the line between wanting to die (plus that look of peace when he actually does) and wanting to fix his mistakes.
* DrunkWithPower: Seeing as how he has so little of it usually, when he does get the faintest whiff of power he'll try and cling to it as hard as he can.
** Less sympathetic in the reboot, as he says "power is always sexy, because the more of it you have, the more you can get whatever you want" in "Why Is Loki So Hot", and Doug confirmed in his "Disney Afternoon" commentary that having Tamara and Malcolm as essentially his toys to dress up was feeding into Critic's hunger for power.
** At the beginning of ''Sharknado'', he makes Snob say he needs Critic's help, just so he can be all giddy at the thought of it.
** In the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' he openly connects his Critic suit to having power and forcing people to do things for him.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: He pinches WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's ass--while almost unconscious himself.
* DumbStruck: Because Doug lost his voice again, ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' was so awful that Critic lost the ability to talk.
* TheDutifulSon: He knew his family is abusive, but always defended them anyway. Whether it came off as heartwarming or a case of StockholmSyndrome was up to you.
* DyingAlone: While it doesn't win the round, a CAH panel had Lewis use a card that said “Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm dying alone and in pain so you don't have to”, and Doug nods happily.
* DynamicCharacter: He's grown up in a lot of ways, but has suffered SanitySlippage in other areas.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Mostly a feminist, he still has his moments that come out in either RealWomenDontWearDresses beliefs or trying to see how far he can go until he gets [[{{fetish}} put back in his place]].
* EntitledBastard: Mixed with UngratefulBastard, in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' he tells Tamara that he'll probably need saving in the third act and if she, a “worthless sack of nothingness” could do it that'd be great.
** In ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'', he demands Tamara do her Dorothy impression even when she's dying from the explosion, and uses her as a footstool when she complains at him.
* EmptyShell:
** He's got very close to this twice before snapping himself out of it. Funnily enough, both with song.
** In “The Dark Age Of Movies”, he references this seriously by adding in “sometimes in life all you can do is just survive”.
** Being {{mind rape}}d by Shya-Amon literally turns him into one of the BrainlessBeauty type.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: ''Cartoon Allstars'' making him so miserable that he sees no other way out than to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] [[DeathIsCheap in the head]].
** And a more subtle one at the beginning. Even though seeing the movie "brings back a pool of disappointing memories", he's smiling when he says he has to watch it again.
** And another near the end. When the characters refuse to stop hammering the moral in, he starts to disagree when they say he should believe in himself and that they care about him.
** The reboot gets {{foreshadowing}} for later cruel out of the way quickly, as he bitches on a random guy's looks, calls the audience "uniquely lazy", talks like Ask That Guy when making a NAMBLA reference, and kills a kitten all in first few minutes.
* EthicalHedonist: He admits that the nexus - where you feel nothing but timeless joy and don't care about anything else - would be awesome, but he still gets irritated at Kirk for doing a 180 from "I need my pain" to "I don't want responsibility".
* EthicalSlut: He thinks everyone, regardless of age or gender, should just have loads of sex and let the stigma of sluttiness as a bad thing die out.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As much as he couldn't stand the Nerd, calling him TheIrateGamer is going too far.
** He does a NotMeThisTime when Todd, Jesu, Y and Rollo T accuse him of making them watch ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He doesn't even know who they are.
** Even he couldn't bring himself to insult ''Series/SesameStreet''.
** As bloodthirsty as he is in the ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, he starts getting a little disturbed by John's offscreen messy death as time goes on. In other episodes, when he's running the show, he's creeped out by the “spazzies” (violent animations done by Doug) and offers whoever made them some of his meds.
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards:
** The dorky dancing Peter does in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' is too geeky even for him.
** Subverted in the Harry Potter book launch. After spending the majority of the video bitching about it, he has a FreakOut {{squee}} larger than anyone when the books start coming out.
** There's an affectionate potshot at erotic fanfic writers when George Lucas and Carrie Fisher are the couple in ''Film/{{Hook}}''.
** He gets to be on the other side of it when even [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester]] laughs at him because he watches ''WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa''.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Falls for this trope with regard to Creator/WillSmith when reviewing ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
** KeithDavid as well. It's the [[ArousedByTheirVoice voice.]]
** Continuing the trend, he's so charmed by Ernie Hudson in ''Congo'' that he calls him a "black Clark Gable".
** He has a PlayedForLaughs crush on Lucas from ''TheWizard''.
** His utter glee over Creator/DanielCraig and Creator/KateWinslet sharing a kiss suggests it's not just Miss Winslet he finds appealing.
** "Ohhh, George Takei, teach me the Spocker!" Said like he's having an orgasm, no less, and made slightly creepy because of the CallBack to [=SWS2=].
** And now he wants Creator/HughJackman. To be fair, everyone wants Creator/HughJackman. Called back in a very HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday way in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, where he says “if you were a girl you'd probably be thankful to have Wolverine save you”.
** Despite his denial and annoyance, he has a moment of swoon for every Avengers man in "Why Is Loki So Hot", saving special StupidSexyFlanders feelings for Thor. And in ''Fantastic Four'', while making a point that everyone's too pretty, Chris Evans is still the only one he calls a beautiful specimen.
** In “The Review Must Go On” he rides Mark Wahlberg's fake dick to make Doug feel uncomfortable, and in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' he says it'd be every woman's dream to buy the guy.
** In ''Disney Afternoon'', he states the obvious in that Tim Curry can wear women's clothing and still be hot.
** In ''Film/MammaMia'', he says the choice of Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård is “an adventure of Choose Your Own DILF”.
** In ''Labyrinth'', he shows a lot of appreciation for Bowie as 'girl porn', even giving him the dubious honor of saying he's the only man who could make 50 Shades work. In "David Bowie's Codpiece", he also says that the movie with David Bowie being homoerotic with other men is in his "private collection".
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he doesn't even know who Angelo D'Angelo is, but with that name he already wants to {{squee}} about how "dreamy" he is.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Only known as The Critic most of the time. Although Rob/The Other Guy will occasionally call him by his real name.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** He usually “jumps at the opportunity” to make a dick joke, but the one in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash'' is so half-assed that he just wants to relish the next one and pass this over.
** Doug has said plenty of times that he loves anything to do with gender role reversal, but Critic has no patience for cartoon Zelda's ep about it because they'd ''already'' switched it up.
* EveryoneHatesMath: He can't remember any algebraic equation from school. [[WritersCannotDoMath Which would explain a lot.]]
* EverythingIsRacist: Most of the time he has a good point, but at other times he can get on his soapbox a little too much.
* EvilAllAlong: Subtle retcon in ''Film/TheShining'', as before then the reboot was always unclear whether Critic was ''supposed'' to be good but really didn't come off that way, or CameBackWrong and he didn't know what he was doing, or ThenLetMeBeEvil. Rachel telling him that she wished she could say that he was once nice to her but that wouldn't be true, proves it a mix of the last two.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he talks about knowing Mormons in "Top 11 South Park Episodes", he's throughly confused over how anyone could be "unusually nice, and ethical, and not angry, and just... ''pleasant''".
** More dickish than evil but in “Why Do We Love Stupid”, he talks about watching the Dalai Lama's video on compassion but a few minutes later shows he didn't quite understand by putting in three screamers in a row [[note]]something that people with anxiety especially really hate[[/note]] and then telling people to admit they liked the first screamer they saw. To put this into perspective, the Ask That Guy episode with a screamer [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/ask-thatguy/505-ask-thatguy-episode-5 had a warning]].
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheShining'' where he just wants to attack Stephen King because he's making his living by entertaining others.
-->'''Critic''': Oh-ho, we'll show him, won't we Pennywise?
* EvilerThanThou: After a long chase scene in ''BMX Bandits'', he admits Diamanda is darker than him, but that he still wants someone shot to alleviate the boredom.
* EvilSoundsDeep: For whatever reason, in “The Review Must Go On”, his voice was smoother, more in control, and almost {{squick}}ily seductive. And whenever he thought Doug was wriggling out of his power, it only got lower and more threatening.
* EvilMatriarch: The old lady devil in [[Film/{{Devil}} said film]] giving a man a BreakThemByTalking speech reminds him of his angry mother balling him out. And there are plenty of other examples of awful things she's apparently done to him.
* ExtremeDoormat: While he's a brat who loves starting arguments, he falls apart with little provocation. He's aware of this.
-->'''Critic''': I just do what everyone tells me to do in the hopes of feeling less insecure.
** Subverted in ''The Top 11 Strangest Couples'', as when Little Kuriboh is in bed with him, he says okay to touchies while looking like he's going to cry, but throws the other man out when his chest gets groped.
[[/folder]]
to:
* AbusiveParents: His parents (and various mentions of other family members suggest they weren't too great either) broke him really bad, making him an easily scared, naive, weepy PsychopathicManchild who thinks parents shouting at each other happens all the time and has children getting hurt as a BerserkButton, but they've done a couple of nice things for him that keep them out of "totally irredeemable" territory. Plus both of them have died (at different points) and he sounded completely destroyed hearing and talking about it.
-->'''Critic:''' Yeah, I remember the last time I said "this is the nineties, old man" to my Dad... (''shakily and looking traumatized'') i-it really was the last time.
* {{Adorkable}}: His awkwardness has a tendency to ''really'' come out during the "Old vs. New" segments and his intense, enduring love for Christmas was very sweet until Doug went DarkerAndEdgier and twisted said love into [[http://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-grandma-got-run-over-by-a-reindeer/ psychosis]]. He's still a nerd who tends to get enthusiastic over certain things and it's endearing to watch, like how he was so excited to review ''Lady in the Water''. Plus he has an [[Disney/{{Frozen}} Elsa]] clipboard.
* AesopAmnesia:
** In a post-PlotHole review of ''{{Twilight}}'', he says it made him realize he can't keep obsessing over the past, needs to move on, and wants to go back to being the universe instead of having a physical body. Come “The Review Must Go On” and all that's forgotten about.
** Mara Wilson is gonna be angry that you had to learn about child stars ''[[http://blip.tv/nostalgiacritic/the-review-must-go-on-6510378 again]]'', Critic... Even then you didn't learn, agreeing with Zordon in ''Turbo'' that all child stars know how to do is go crazy, being mean to Anna Sophia Robb by focusing on her looks in a negative way instead of her acting, and adding a {{rimshot}} to mocking fun of Dakota Fanning.
*** Lampshaded when he lazily says "insert Mara Wilson revenge joke here" in "Top 12 Santa Clauses" but then a clip of her laughing still scares him.
** In ''ScoobyDoo'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', he actually talked to people and took the chance to make friends/strengthen the relationships he already had, not to mention helping everyone in the PlotHole. With the reboot he's back to being alone (not even interacting with Chester), the Santa Christ call implying out of guilt.
** His very potent determination to never hurt people again (and succeeding at being a BigGood) was replaced with maiming cats, more personal insults, hitting kids, suggesting torture that not even the devil thought of, and beating three people to near-death with a baseball bat.
** His completely forgetting that everyone has a right to like what they want, including TMZ, and calling anyone who did out as worthless virgins (to put it nicely), had real-life consequences and hurt [[http://tgwtgsecrets.tumblr.com/post/51729890214/a-defense-of-tmz-from-an-avid-fan a friend's feelings]].
** His SK-TBF year had him learning the benefit of other people's opinions, culminating in very innocently asking Roger how things can be liked but still widely mocked. ''BridgeToTerabithia'' has him outright say "Well, I'm not one to disagree with other people's opinions... unless they're stupid and not mine.", and ''The Guyver'' review has him ignoring Sage's calling him out of being more insulting than he was.
** Lampshaded anvil-hard in the video he sent to the Nerd roasting. “Even though we ended at a good place in To Boldly Flee, I still hate you!”
** He says "a director can make a bad film" in his ''AI'' soapbox speech, but Burton very nearly manages to teach him that lesson in ''Film/AliceInWonderland'', fucking up in Critic's eyes before it can sink in. It's so CallBack-like this may be intentionally using the trope.
*** A little more understated and understandable because major SanitySlippage, but "Kubrick's not perfect" was made a major deal in the ending of ''AI'', so it's a little odd that he has to relearn that at the end of ''The Shining''.
** At the end of ''Princess Diaries 2'', he “learns” not to stay in the constructs of his gender. That he had to learn this at all is news to the audience, as even in early days being a girly brat was always a big part of Critic's personality. (Might be justified with his admittance in the ''Uncanny Valley'' review that he's dying from repression, but doubtful.)
** Ironic considering he actually referenced ''Film/MoulinRouge'' in the ''Film/MammaMia'' review, but the “guilty pleasures” song appears to have been driven out of his brain. He has huge complaints about women liking ''Princess Diaries II'' and ''Film/MammaMia'', even though people who enjoy them usually say they know they're dumb but they're fun popcorn movies usually made for eye candy purposes, and they like plenty of actual good stuff too.
** More bittersweet than usual in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' as after a sad speech about changing, self-loathing and how at least if you're aware of the bad things you've done you shouldn't hate yourself so much, he goes right back to arguing with Tamara and Malcolm and treating them badly.
* AgentScully: Despite all of the unexplained, magical things that have happened to him, he still demands logic in the movies he reviews.
* AggressiveSubmissive: A force of nature personality coupled with an ExtremeDoormat need to be loved will make you one of these. In PQH, he's technically the General's boss, but tells him he's into being leashed and wants to be invited to a BDSM party.
* AintTooProudToBeg: He'll even whore himself out as long [[WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry you]] don't play another song.
** Variant in ''Future's End'' when Snob tells him in basic terms to do his SexSlave job again. He breaks down crying immediately, but kneels down and unzips anyway.
** In one of Hyper's post-kidnapping vlogs, he in exhausted tone asks her if he does what she tells him to do will she finally go away. She says no and he shows some leg before shoving her out the window.
* TheAlcoholic: Even though even [[Franchise/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]] would probably laugh at him for not being able to handle his drink, booze pops up a lot in his show. In ''It'', Dr Smith [[spoiler: his father]] gets concerned because he's drinking too much.
* AlcoholicParent: His mother calls him up when she's been drinking and insults him horribly. It's happened so often that he doesn't mind, and he still looks completely traumatized when he's told that she died. Though that doesn't stop him from mentioning it in later reviews, she got drunk at her book club apparently.
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Gender-inverted. He has a MasochismTango-like relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, he sees no problem with the attractive inmates from ''Film/{{Chicago}}'' snuffing him out, got attracted to Tamara after she tortured him and gave her a job to make his “I just watch him because he's pretty hurting” demographic happy, and his prom date ended up raping him. Hyper Fangirl actually had RightForTheWrongReasons, thinking he would love her because she pretended to like the things he did, but Doug saying in commentary that Critic had been close to falling for her because she kidnapped and hurt him.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: What gets him into so much trouble with Rachel, Malcolm, Tamara and the Hyper Fangirl. He wants them around to be abused and stroke his ego, but when they either snap from mistreatment or (in the case of the last) feel like they have a chance with him, he gets pissed off.
* AlterEgoActing: The Critic's name is Doug, but he's still a fictional character whom Doug Walker plays.
* AManIsNotAVirgin: The Critic seems to have something against virgins. He said that the protagonist of ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' needs to get laid, in the Nerd movie review he assumes anyone who abuses women online for being a “fake gamer girl” just hasn't been laid yet, called out Rafe of ''Film/PearlHarbor'' for holding off sex to his girlfriend, and used the word "virgin" as an insult. Plus in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', just moments after joking that Website/{{Tumblr}} is full of oversensitive people, he makes another joke that they could never get laid in real life. Amusing/ironically enough, he hates ''Film/HocusPocus'' for “virgin shaming”, though Doug admitted later that it wasn't as bad as he originally thought.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: Maven insults him by calling him a "reanimated dead guy", he randomly changes into a South Park version of himself out of anger at the end of "Top 11 South Park Episodes", the "Why Do We Love Zombies" title card averts BeautyIsNeverTarnished by having his face decay, and [[spoiler: he manages to be fine with being burned alive]] in "Ghost Dad". Shyam-amon calls him "mortal" in "Devil", but he's not exactly the best judge.
* AmazonChaser: Put an ActionGirl in a movie (but don't chickify her) and he'll fall in love. Tamara in ''Film/TheWickerMan'' uses this to her advantage, as while she's cutesy and silly with Snob and Spoony, she gaslights and tortures Critic and it gets her a job with him.
* AmIJustAToyToYou:
** His screaming at the Chick about does she even care about him goes into this trope when WordOfGod confirmed they had sex in the ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' review.
** An InterplayOfSexAndViolence version at the end of ''Film/TheWickerMan'', as he runs after Tamara to yell at her... not for torturing him, but for leaving afterwards and not giving him a chance to give her a job because views go up when he's in pain.
* AnimalsHateHim: In the mindfucks list, a toy puppy turns into a giant gorilla to kill him. Close to being justified, as whenever there's a movie with an animal in the lead, he usually wants them dead.
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Played with. He's annoying, but The Other Guy keeps him in place through disproportionate means. (Like punching him back into a review)
** That said the Critic gives at least as good as he gets considering that he repeatedly berated and beat up Rob without any real provocation in his review of ''Franchise/XMen''.
* AntiHero: He's arguably one of the few characters to be anywhere on the scale, depending on the episode in question:
** He's a ClassicalAntiHero most of the time.
** He eventually settles on KnightInSourArmor in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee since he has genuinely altruistic motives and no real KickTheDog moments other than indulging Chick's hate of Lupa by giving her Lupa's number so they could prank call her. Earlier on...
** He arguably leaned towards a PragmaticHero since Suburban Knights, as he genuinely cares for his team mates and shows both courage and surprisingly strong leadership in the final battle.
** He ventures into UnscrupulousHero & NominalHero when he's angry, and has stayed here since coming back from the PlotHole as he's the devil's favorite. Lampshaded in ''Spawn'' when Kermit-Devil wants him to be the leader of the demon army ''because'' he's so awful now.
* TheAntiNihilist: The world sucks and he's all too aware that he's useless, but he still wants to do good.
-->'''Critic''': It's like trying to save a sinking ship with a bandaid. Anything I try to do would be completely pointless. '''Save me'''.
* AntiRoleModel: Doug tries to make it very clear that you ''shouldn't'' think of Critic as a badass or someone to look up to.
* ApologeticAttacker: "TO WAR! ...whenever you have the time."
* ApologizesALot: Doug's tendency to feel guilty for stuff that isn't remotely his fault soaks into Critic's persona the most, or at least until Donnie came into the picture, and after he died, Critic isn't apologizing for anything as Sage found out.
* ApparentlyPowerlessPuppetmaster: Post-reboot, one of the most meta examples. [[http://ozscarface.deviantart.com/art/Who-controls-whom-355796707?q=favby%3ADouglasDarien%2F32971852&qo=106 This art favorited by Doug]] sums it up, as Critic is still broken and pathetic, but he treats his underlings like his dolls, characters are created to make things go his way, he can insult Doug whenever he wants, and he doesn't always fail when he rebels against actually being a character.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler:At the end of ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' he merges with the PlotHole threatening the Awesomeverse and sacrifices his physical body but essentially becomes the universe itself.]]
* TheAtoner: His accidental admission that he'd killed a Reno hooker by accident gives a new spin on his anger with the UnproblematicProstitution in ''Film/MilkMoney''. Less common sense, more trying to make up for what he did. This trait is especially apparent in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, as even the trailers had his lines about finally having a chance to make up for his mistakes.
-->'''Optimus Prime''': I died for your sins.\\
'''Critic''': And clearly I will only die for mine.
** Subverted in ''Film/FoodFight'', when he at least gets that he's being punished for sins he's done, but blames himself for things he had nothing to do with. ''Fatal Fight'', the music from WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee when he killed himself, provides the anvil for anyone not getting it.
* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: As part of HypocriticalHumor, he gets distracted by a housefly in ''Ferngully II''. In other reviews, he'll get caught up in a sketch if the movie is too dull. Doug has stated in multiple vlogs that he's almost certain he has ADD, so that would explain why Critic can't seem to keep much focus on anything. There's a cute moment in ''The Uncanny Valley'' review where he goes all out on this trait.
-->'''Critic''': [[SarcasmMode Well that's something reviewers don't do]], lose focus. Like the time I saw Vin Diesel at the premiere of ''Fred 3'', neither of us would admit why we were actually there but- you might have noticed an edit there, because I got distracted with nothing to do with what we're talking about, my apologies, now let us return to our review ''Wicker Man II: I Was Really Ghost Rider''- you might have noticed another edit there but that happens when you have years of sexual repression building up and then all you can think about is Jessica Lange dressed up as a snowman with her big- you might have noticed another edit... and I'm just gonna stop there.
** In the ''Star Wars'' edition of Hotshot, he admits he's feeling bouncier than normal and is having a new idea every few minutes.
** In the “trying to look cool in leather” ending of ''Film/TheMatrix'', he gets distracted by Jim walking by, and Malcolm has to grab his chin in order to get him back to 'reality'.
** In his review of ''Film/CatsandDogs'', he quickly loses focus when he has a piece of string in front of him or is told to fetch a ball.
** In the review of his home movies, he unknowingly thinks his child self really needs ritalin.
** When the grandfather in ''Spy Kids 3D'' gets distracted by a butterfly, he gets annoyed because of the "reinforcing ADD stereotypes".
* AttentionWhore: The Nostalgia Chick gently bitches about his hogging all the limelight when he shows up dressed as Creator/TimCurry in her review of ''TheWorstWitch''. The beginning of ''Dawn Of The Commercials'' has him lapping up the praise of a huge crowd and choir music (because he's doing another commercials) like he's some kind of messiah. In “Old vs New: Spider-Man”, this is the reason why he doesn't just unfriend Hyper and be free of her guilt-tripping. By the time he's realized his own safety is more important, it's way too late.
* AuthorityInNameOnly: In the TGWTG universe, he's the boss. He gets walked over a lot, however, so that it really doesn't mean much. Phelous doesn't even remember his CatchPhrase. And while he's 'better' (as in his abuse works more to keep them under his control) with Malcolm/Tamara/Rachel, they still loathe him and think he's an idiot who deserves to be tortured. Even with Tamara and Malcolm, when Rob's there (and they're siding with him) Critic has no authority over anyone again, empty threat-ing them that he can buy and sell them like ABBA's dignity.
* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: This was the lyric playing when he tried getting up the courage to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback".
-->Oh, but he watches so sadly. How can he tell her he loves her? Yes, he would give his heart gladly...
** In a more toxic fashion, while he treats Malcolm and Tamara horribly, a lot of episodes (especially Matrix Month) show that he needs them and trusts them to take care of him.
* AxCrazy: Can be set off into crazed violence by sufficiently poor movies, and is pretty manic-depressive otherwise. Gets worse after he has to come down from being happy in the PlotHole, as [[spoiler:it's implied that he decides to check himself into an asylum after a particularly homicidal breakdown in the ''Master of Disguise'' review.]] Later on, his threat to Sci-Fi Guy to do a crossover with him (and do all the work) or else next time they're at a con he'll slit guy's wrists and leave him in a bathtub, is... ''special'' in creepy. ''Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer'' is entirely based on what will happen if you control him too much and then suddenly take the RestrainingBolt away.
* BabysitterFromHell: Despite having babysit kids fine in the past, he treats Evilina horribly in ''Film/TheCatInTheHat''. Which should be fitting considering where she lives, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it very much.
** Expands beyond Evilina in ''Jurassic Park III'', as he says that whenever he feeds babies, he leaves the food five feet away from them because they're lazy and should work for their own meal.
* BackFromTheDead: Commits a HeroicSuicide in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, but convinces Doug to bring him back in "The Review Must Go On". He regrets this by ''Film/SonOfTheMask'', but Evilina tells him he has to stay alive because killing him off got complaints the first time.
* BadassUnintentional: When he's ''trying'' to do anything, he's a FailureHero. By accident however (or when he's pissed enough), he's exploded cities, come back to life after getting killed and can tell the death star to blow up a DVD.
* BadDreams: PlayedForLaughs until WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee hit, where he was having nightmares about the PlotHole and waking up in a panic every time.
** By ''Jurassic Park III'', he still gets them, but he also gets “night-memes” - memes that he never wanted to do again but keep popping up anyway.
** A theme in “Is Eyes Wide Shut Artsy Porn”, where he explains nightmares as “scary faces in the dark exposing you at your very core” and after Will gets a rape threat, asks “how many nightmares have you had where you were naked and exposed to everyone?”.
** Used as a pretty telling sign of PTSD in “The Sixth Day”, where he casually says he wakes up every morning screaming and swearing from a bad night.
* BadLiar: [[SarcasmMode Sure]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7bz5lrhzs&feature=related they're treating you well, Critic]].
* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: In the Transformers-Bratz arc, after he wakes up from getting chloroformed, he hides angrily in the bushes, shoots the Chick with a tranquilizer dart and sinisterly says it's his turn. It turns out that he just wanted to pretend he had power while trying to give her a self-esteem boost.
* BaitTheDog:
** For the first fifteen minutes of Lupa's “A Talking Cat” review, he seems nicer and more toned down from his comeback self; lets her talk the most, actually apologizes when a joke makes her sad, and submissively backs down from annoying her when she threatens to punch him. [[spoiler: but then in the halfway point he shoots her, and while she shoots him back later, he does it again before the episode ends]]
** In the ''Transformers 4'' crossover, he's bored and lets Erod runs the show for the first half of the review. But when Erod goes to bust the dvd early, he shoots the hammer out of his hand, reminds him who everyone comes to see and displays electric powers. He's also completely fine with killing Bay even when he thinks Bay is human and torturing Erod for not much reason.
* BasementDweller: It's a lovely house, but he lived with his mom until she died.
* BastardBoyfriend: In his mind at least. He's creepily enjoying descending on Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', sees nothing wrong with smacking Tamara around (she at least is his {{dominatrix}} too), is DrunkWithPower {{gaslighting}} Doug in “The Review Must Go On”, and wants a clone of himself as a SexSlave in “The Sixth Day”. Plus he owns a whip.
* BeardOfSorrow
* BeautifulAllAlong: We've seen him as a fairly {{gonk}}y dork as a young teenager, and he complains about being bullied because he looked and acted too much like ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', but he's grown up into a traditional PrettyBoy.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Parodied for silly laughs. With all the suicides, shots to the head and occasional getting the shit kicked out of him, you'd think he'd at least be a little scarred. Averted in the “Why Do We Love Zombies” title card though, with his eyes [[{{motif}} milky white]], skin greying and blue, and a ton of lesions. He ''is'' truly a zombie after all. While it never actually happens, a lot of Zod's threats to Critic are heavily based on averting this, with EyeScream, “spilled organs”, castration and general mutilation until he no longer looks human.
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis:
** He went from an ManChild defender of kids due to his own past, to having no idea how they work ("so what do kids do? make tofu or something?") and smacking Evilina hard enough to make her cry while she had just slapped him lightly. He gets a lot worse later, as he comes in from ''killing'' a little girl in Maven's "Monster Mash" review.
** His new BabysitterFromHell side also continues in ''Film/JurassicPark III'', saying that whenever he feeds a baby, he puts the food five feet away from them because “lazy bastards should work for their own meal”. On a accidentally accurate note, he gives an example of a child nothing but oranges, which cause acid rashes and they can choke on them.
** Letting Malcolm get tortured by Dante Basco's fire powers and literally telling him “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” is a total 180 to his heartbroken Kirk impersonation in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' and ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee''.
** ''Turbo'' dedicates about five minutes to how he's much more interested in being cruel to get results, instead of doing the honorable thing like he used to.
** The only way Rob can get saving the world through to him in ''Film/FantasticFour2005''review is appealing to his selfishness. And while ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' still had an element of selfishness, it was the self-loathing kind and this was the guy who stood up to Mechakara with no SecurityCling.
** ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' being mostly a ''Franchise/StarWars'' analogy, he was the hero who The Emperor (played by Rob) wanted dead and gone. Even before that, in the ''Titanic'' movie review, he was the troubled Darth Vader to Rob's controlling Emperor. In the ''Star Wars'' version of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', ''he's'' the Emperor (with the General as his Darth Vader) and relishes the power.
* BecauseImGoodAtIt: Variant. He relates to the Santa in "A Christmas Story" because he too hates his job but exploits it because ''other'' people think he's good at it.
* BecauseISaidSo:
** In the phone call with Rachel in ''Film/TheShining'', where she's not even doing anything wrong, just phoning because of the GuiltComplex he's made her have, he loses his temper and makes up rules to “keep her from distracting him”.
** Turns out to be the case in ''Film/GhostDad'', as he's making up rules for Tamara/Malcolm to humiliate themselves with to punish them for torturing him.
* BeingGoodSucks: His very conscious decision to atone for his mistakes and sacrifice himself to save the world got turned into a parodox by RealLifeWritesThePlot, so he gave up and TookALevelInJerkass. Referenced in ''Is There Another Good Shyamalan Movie?'', as there's a notable pleading tone to his voice when he talks about how YouCantFightFate fucks over people who hadn't even wanted to be mean. There's also his great umbrage at ''Film/TheChristmasTree'' having the moral of “you always win when you are good”.
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil:
** Sexual variant. The Spooning storyline continues in "The Strangest But Best Couples", when he acts [[spoiler: or at least tries, he gets creeped on fast in punishment for his homophobia]] like Spoony in the series.
** All the times he's been a DistressedDude, Hyper kidnapping him being the final straw, resulted in him being the kidnapper in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', holding people captive and forcing them to be his 'friends'.
* BeliefMakesYouStupid: Inverted. Whenever religion gets brought up, the ditziness is downplayed and he'll have intelligent things to say.
* BeneathTheMask: He's really scared of someone manipulative going inside his head and finding out all the nasty stuff he's feeling, so puts on a JerkassFacade and settles for complaining about being NotEvilJustMisunderstood.
** Enforced in “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”, as a chill patch makes him cute and safe and marketable about his love for Christmas, but when Tamara rips it off he turns into an embodiment of his NightmareFuelStationAttendant traits.
* BerserkButton:
** The "Bat Credit Card" and ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' drive him to psychopathic rage. By ''Christmas With The Kranks/Bunny Boobies'', both still make him angry, but he's more pissed off and upset that people keep wanting him to do both {{freak out}}s over and over. (Doug said in a 2012 interview that the former meme has given him a twitchy eye.)
** He can't stand children getting abused or having a film treating them like idiots and women not having the power they should have.
** He also hates it when a parent death is treated solely as a plot device with little emotional resonance.
** Movies based on historical tragedies, like the animated ''Titanic'' films and ''Pearl Harbor'', get a lot of hate for mis-portraying real disasters where thousands of people died for the sake of narrative or dramatic convenience.
** Since the show began again in 2013, the Critic ''despises'' [=TMZ=].
** Even after the reboot, he hates it when people bring up ''Doug''. In the "Disney Afternoon" episode, when Malcolm said how good ''Doug'' was, there was a cut and Malcolm nursing a black eye and couldn't feel much in his mouth.
** If a movie has heavy-handed symbolism and religious metaphors, the Critic will show it no mercy.
** He would also kindly like you to not say the proper name of ''[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales DT]]'' because the [[EarWorm theme song]] finally got out of him.
** Despite him lampshading that they ended in a sweet place at WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee, a little girl gets beaten to death (offscreen) because she mistook him for the Nerd.
** One that he will dedicate entire episodes to are frivolous copyright claims to silence criticism that could hurt profits and reputation. See: Tommy Wiseau, Hollywood in general...
** Anyone but himself bringing up ''WebVideo/DemoReel''. Dr Hack at the end of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' got a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for saying the show's concept would make him money, and Yo in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' uses it to intentionally make him ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject.
** He never really enjoyed it, but TestosteronePoisoning seems to genuinely anger him in reboot. Even when he's into it he feels guilty and complains that he doesn't want to fit into his gender.
** Ever since Hyper kidnapped him, he hates people being too calm about being held hostage. A lot of '' The THIRD Animated Titanic Movie'' is him getting loudly upset about it.
* {{BFG}}: To demonstrate that he's got more power, "A Talking Cat" and "Disney Afternoon" swap out his small iconic handgun with a bigger, scarier gun.
** The gun he uses to threaten Hyper Fangirl with in her third vlog is big enough to actually scare her into leaving him alone for once.
* TheBGrade: Inverted. An A- was such a rare occasion that he got a trip to Chuck E Cheese whenever that happened. The bullying and always moving to new places probably had something to do with it.
* BigBad: The closest thing to one in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} [[spoiler: and "The Review Must Go On".]]
* BigEater: If all the junk food in the first Commercials Special is any indication, especially as he'd been sitting in the same place and stuffing himself for a ''week''.
* BirthdayHater: Odd for such a LonelyRichKid, but the only gift-giving holiday he enjoys is Christmas. He also loves Halloween, for slightly [[EthicalSlut different]] [[NightmareFetishist reasons]].
* BiTheWay: [[TransparentCloset Even if he goes back and forth in being okay with it or not]].
** In ''X-Men: Raiders Of The StoryArc'', he basically comes out when he replies to a subtextual conversation with "I thought we were like this because the conservative right said we chose it" in a normal voice.
** In ''Forest Warrior'', despite the [[invoked]] MisaimedFandom of thinking Chuck's homophobia is just misunderstood, Film Brain replies “thought you might” to Critic liking “[[DoubleEntendre hard wood]]”, and Critic tells him at the end that he loves him. “And I do mean in that way”.
** He gleefully mocked part of his audience at the end of “Rise Of The Commercials”, where he innuendoes plenty on how to give good blowjobs, and when that makes them boo instead of the Canada rape jokes, he says he looks forward to losing them as viewers before leaving.
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he's into Nicole Kidman (though as he vehemently says, not as a sixteen year old), Angelo D'Angelo and whoever Kidman's male stunt double is, saying that a guy doing her biking tricks makes his jerking off to it "both more and less awkward".
** DepravedBisexual: Slots into the role a little too well in "The Review Must Go On", as he coos that Doug is cute, rides Mark Wahlberg's fake penis in ''Film/BoogieNights'' just to freak him out, threatens him while calling him 'Tinkerbell' and behaving like he's checking off a lot of items on the DomesticAbuser list.
** The first couple of retooled ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' episodes had him hitting on all the male contestants he kidnapped, and flirting with General Anesthetic, first wanting to be invited to an S&M party and second asking if he looks pretty in a pink tiara.
** AnythingThatMoves: In “The Sixth Day”, he disgusts Sci-Fi Guy by assuming Arnold would “test out” the really creepy doll, and has an Ask That Guy moment when he shrugs and reasons “a mouth is a mouth”. [[spoiler: There are also two Critics in the end (...just go with it) and they both want to fuck each other.]]
* BizarreTasteInFood: He doesn't see the big deal about having a coffee, beer, pepto-bismal, Chinese food and pizza slurpie, or sugar-frosted burrito-stuffed hotpockets with lard on the side and butter taken from real liposuctions. No wonder Santa Christ had to cure him from diabetes.
* BlessedWithSuck: ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'' calls his increased meta (and reality warping) skills in the reboot “ruining”, which he uses to his advantage but makes him crueler and even more depressed than he was when he didn't know he was a character.
* BloodKnight: A lot more pronounced in reboot. Against his will to be fair to him, as in ''Maximum Overdrive'' he craves the violence, but also doesn't want to be stereotypically male and realizes he should question it. Just doesn't want to.
* BoisterousWeakling: Although the "getting ordered around" bit (and sometimes getting beaten too) [[{{fetish}} doesn't]] bother him.
* BrainlessBeauty: For a time in ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He's been talent-bended so he has no emotion, but it also makes him coincidentally do everything he's told, and sets the blue PuppyDogEyes on full-time.
* BrainsAndBondage: He's a GeniusDitz masochist who loves toppy women. In the first Nerd Rant, he's ''proud'' of how he tortures himself.
-->'''Critic''': So what's the point in seeing The Lost World? For you, none. For me, I'm a glutton for fucking punishment.
** When Tamara is thankful she doesn't have to be the Ana in a 50 Shades review, he complains at her that ballgags are surprisingly comfortable. When she asks how would he know, he lies “...research”.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he's smart enough to keep a HostageSituation going without getting arrested (though in Critic-show he's threatened with it a couple of times) and wants to be on General Anesthetic's leash as well as be invited to one of his play parties.
** Turns out in ''Blade'' that he got his Hotshot kink wish, as he says the bloodbath is meant to be scary, but you can see it at any goth club along with rubber gimps.
* BreakTheCutie: Finally driven home in the "Commercials Special" when he bemoans that he used to have such dreams and promise. And in a more simple use of the trope, any time he gets a seriously bad movie - ''Film/TheNeverendingStory 3'' springs immediately to mind.
** It turns out that the fuck-up lists were breaking him. He stopped fighting it at the beginning of the third episode, and at the end his frustration over ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' leads into a screaming tantrum about everyone being horrible. Even ''Douchey'' feels bad for him.
* BreakTheHaughty: He thinks doing a LetsPlay is going to be '''so''' easy, much easier than actually analyzing something. He really gets proven wrong.
** After his psychotic creeper-dom in "The Review Must Go On", "Son Of The Mask" gets him lower than even the beginning of ''ScoobyDoo''. He's looking through garbage cans for stuff to review, goes back to bitching at the audience for wanting to see him suffer, is constantly scared by the movie to the point of ExhaustedEyebags (which is a first), begs Santa Christ to help him but gets abused, is told he's meant to suffer, suffers a heart attack and doesn't look especially happy about surviving it, begs Satan and his daughter to kill him but gets refused, plus a reference to his WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee death has him crawling on the floor and crying so hard he sounds like he's about to choke.
** Somewhat in the ''Film/ManOfSteel'' review, as he treats Joe terribly and would very much like to think he's Superman given the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' speech playing in his head, but Zod makes him scared, mocks him for a crappy speech and the episode takes no interest in him after he's being held hostage.
* BrilliantButLazy: He knows how to take over the world but doesn't want to tell, and he can learn languages really fast when he's obsessing over something meaningless, but mostly he hasn't got the will or the self-esteem to change his life for the better. He got off his ass and succeeded in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' and a few months after, but even that got retconned.
* BrokenAce: Comes off like this in the reboot. Gets the voice actors to act out Pinky And The Brain splitting up, takes down TMZ, lectures executives constantly on where they're going wrong... is losing more of his mind and is confirmed to hallucinating/reality warping a lot, wants to be back in the PlotHole on several occasions, and has pushed away everyone who once cared about him because he was such an asshole upon return. Lampshaded hilariously harshly at the start of ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'', when the announcer asks why someone of so little worth gets so many favors from famous people.
* BrokenPedestal: With Santa Christ. In ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' he's disappointed to learn that the guy actually has a dark side, and said dark side is mostly focused on being cruel to him.
* BrokenRecord: When Rob is yelling at him (or dragging him off in the alternate scenes) at the end of ''Speed Racer'', mostly all he can do is beg he's sorry over and over in a tearful high pitched voice.
* BrokenTears:
** ''Film/SonOfTheMask'' has his crying disturbingly realistic for once, with choking sounds, a red face and dropping out of camera to the floor so nobody can see him.
** His crying in ''Film/FoodFight'' is painful as well, as he's curled up on the floor, clawing his scrunched up face and emitting noisy sobbing.
* ButtMonkey: While he tries to act like a successful MeanBoss during crossovers, either the others get the upper hand or his own patheticness does him in. Hyper and Devil Boner also mock him for his DistressedDude status at their hand, beaming with pride at the other for holding him hostage so well.
* ByronicHero: An impulsive cynic who has a TraumaCongaLine backstory. He ''wants'' to be good, but his self-hate and temper keep getting in the way.
* CameBackWrong: ''Something'' has changed from the self-loathing atoner from 2011/2012[=/=]WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee and the MessianicArchetype he was. Announcing his return, he had the same PsychoticSmirk he kept wearing in his torment of Doug, shouts more than he ever used to, the opening joke of Timothy Green is him killing a cat, insults people even '''more''', his {{Stepford Smiler}} traits have been flanderized, slurs at women get shoehorned in, and he's back to HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday after years of indulging.
** Gets another boost in ''Turbo'', as Zordon gets angry at him for not doing the honorable thing and taking the easy way out but Critic is not apologetic. Remember that even in ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' Ma-Ti praised him for being loyal and strong.
* CameBackStrong: [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity There are plenty of things off]], but in terms of the fourth wall he's a lot more aware of who's running the show, and what he can do if things don't go his way.
* CannotKeepASecret: He might have UndyingLoyalty, but his promise to Chester that he'd keep the Search For The Necronomicon just between them lasted for about twenty seconds.
* CannotSpitItOut: The look on his face after he just can't get up the nerve to hold the Chick's hand in "Thanks For The Feedback" (and she doesn't notice) is almost depressing.
* CantGetAwayWithNuthin: [[spoiler: The Critic never suspected that God would be watching his "Old vs. New" video of ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' vs. ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt''. He thought God was a benevolent and kind being, but God didn't let him get away with that statement.]]
-->'''God:''' [[PreMortemOneLiner "Your ass is grass."]]
* CantHoldHisLiquor: In the Snob/Phelous crossover, he was drunk and weepy by 6pm, not even knowing who Rob was, messier than usual, craving Ninja Turtles (even the third movie) and crying that he used to like ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie''. Snob called it "shockingly depressing" and Phelous wanted to hang himself. He compares ''Film/EightCrazyNights'' to [[NoodleIncident that time]] he puked from having too much eggnog.
* CaptainObvious: Yes darling, you're white and male. You don't need to keep asking or stating that fact.
** Unless they're sad (like his "zombies are a metaphor for getting used to depression" theory), editorials usually have a talent for stating what everybody already knows. Nobody really needed to be told again that kids should watch scary moments in movies but in moderation.
* CassandraTruth:
** When he tries to put Rocky's message of "people can change" to the real world, he gets punched and shot at.
** In a less joke and more making a point version, he's depressed when he tries to tell Santa Christ about what Hyper did to him and just gets victim blamed.
-->'''Critic''': You're never gonna be on my side are you?
* TheCastShowoff: [[invoked]] Doug has a singing voice made for musical theater which he puts on display fairly often.
** He and his brother are also skilled at impressions and other voices, which they also put on display... in practically every Nostalgia Critic video.
** Less often than the singing, but he also likes to show off that he's a very good dancer. The ''Transformers 4'' crossover takes time out to have a few minute dancing contest, which is essentially just an excuse to show off his (and Erod's) dancing skills.
** In ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'', he brought back bad memories for art students when he makes some very good drawings in under a minute, calls them crap assuming everyone would agree with him, and throws them away.
** ''Film/AliceInWonderland'' shows his Burton shrine filled with drawings, and when Critic angrily squirms that they're crap, Burton kindly says “but some of it's good”.
* CatBoy: Much to [[http://thatchickwiththegifs.tumblr.com/post/140712794040/catnc-vs-dognc-cats-and-dogs-review tumblr's enjoyment]], the mother in “Cats And Dogs” makes him bat string like a cat, and play fetch like a dog. The announcers also literally call him a poodle, canon that fangirl fandom has gleefully taken to heart.
* CatSmile: When he's trying very hard to keep himself from laughing.
* CharacterCheck: For all [=NuCritic=]'s pedophile and beating children jokes/actions, he's genuinely sorry at the start of "Why Lie About Santa" when he makes a load of kids cry. The old morals can't last long though, as he happily does it at the end.
** Despite being slightly sadder and NightmareFetishist about it, his reboot CameBackWrong personality doesn't stop his Christmas excitement.
** In “A Talking Cat?!”, he quickly goes passive with Lupa when he annoys her and she yells at him (like he used to do with other female producers and Lupa herself in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''), whereas with Rachel and Tamara he's hit them for much less. And while he does shoot her (which Doug lampshades in the bloopers as shittier than when she does) later on, she shoots him right back.
** One with his reboot self. When he's with Black Willy Wonka in ''Film/TheLorax'', suddenly all the preaching about pandering vanishes and he would much rather have money than praise.
** After ages dominating Rachel, his sub side comes back up in ''Film/TheWickerMan'', wanting to be the island women's SexSlave and offering Tamara a job when she tortures him.
** One that is both in-universe and out, Critic gets a reminder in ''Christmas With The Kranks'' that the only reason why he started reviewing was because a long history of abuse made him desperate to be loved.
* CausticCritic: The fact that he's a DeconstructiveParody of one, focusing on how ''miserable'' the job is, has become more clear as time goes on.
* CharacterDevelopment: He's a ManChild with a DarkAndTroubledPast and lots of issues. The past couple of years however, he's still of course a brat, but also a PapaWolf who has basically declared himself a defender of kids well-being and intelligence.
** There's been a nice shift in power dynamics with his relationship with WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick. At first, he's condescending and just treats her like an extension of him, also being so awkward that he has to pretend to be Rasputin to hit on her. But as she grew into the sociopath we know and love, he trusts her ([[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} to almost dumbass degrees]]), wants her to be proud of herself and wants to spend time with her.
** As probably part of MiseryBuildsCharacter, his attitude towards Harley Quinn and the Joker's relationship. In his Top Eleven Animated Women, he has the hots for her (naturally) and likes the couple because it "gives homicidal maniacs like him a chance". In his Top Eleven Batman Episodes, he feels sorry for her, talks about how the pairing sums up DomesticAbuse in a nutshell and his one complaint about the episode is the {{fanservice}} of doctors in mini-skirts.
** He's become a lot more respectful towards women, dislikes stereotypical manliness (he's quite a SissyVillain himself) and has undying love for {{badass}} girls. The "Top Eleven Hottest Animated Women" list had skeeviness reminiscent of WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses.
** In his first top eleven, the Scariest Nostalgic Moments, he calls the VillainSong in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWondlernad Care Bears In Wonderland]]'' gay and mentions that if you watch ''Franchise/CareBears'' long enough you see the face of the devil. When he actually reviews the three movies, he of course still thinks they're sickeningly sweet but is a lot more mature about explaining his problems with them.
** He started being calmer(ish) and giving a general review at the end of his episodes after ''Film/TheGarbagePailKidsMovie'' became the utter pinnacle of badness in his eyes.
** After the ''Film/MyPetMonster'' debacle, he's learned not to be entitled and complain about having to watch something when it's a movie he actually bought or rented.
** Compare the reviews of ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' and ''Film/AlienResurrection''. The former has him salivating over a RelationshipWritingFumble between two young-looking sisters and the latter a few years later has him irritated over how it was just advertised to get the male demographic in.
** All of the above become a plot-point in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[spoiler: when Doug tells him that he's evolved over the years from an abrasive comedy character into a decent and three-dimensional person.]]
** Part of the speech at the end of ''Christmas With The Kranks'' is addressing people who think his development has been undone since TBF, sadly noting that he ''has'' changed from then, in quite a few ways, but development doesn't always mean being a better person.
* CharacterFilibuster: If his "child abuse" BerserkButton gets hit, the review will stop for a few minutes so he can get all his rant out.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Going from a happy, fanboying proto-Chester to a manic-depressive cynic, to Atoner for [[spoiler:the death of Ma-Ti]], to [[spoiler:self sacrificial saviour of the Awesomeverse]], to an abusive, depressed, condescending MetaGuy with too much power.
** In the ''Super Mario Brothers'' movie, he's grossed out by the big bertha and makes no fuss about the SatelliteLoveInterest either being a DistressedDamsel or getting a flame thrower at the end. Watching it now, it's just... strange.
** Also in the early days, he talked about kids' short attention spans and getting easily bored. With his hate for LullDestruction, can you imagine him saying that now?
** In his second Nerd rant, he doesn't even know what a compliment is. Fast forward to now and he's ''desperate'' for a movie to give him something good to say.
** Something that applies to both Critic and Doug, but when they did a segment on how much they liked a film (think until about early 2010), their tone was more muted and Critic in the “Top Five Video Game Movies” practically sounds like he's on downers. After that, Doug let his absolute ''love'' for movies shine through everything, letting us get the {{keet}}ish fanboy we know and enjoy.
** In 2007/2008 days, take a drink for how many times he calls anything he doesn't like “gay”. In later years, aside from having open crushes on men, even by ''Captain N'' he was apologizing for bottom of barrel gay jokes.
** It's weird to see him go on about how much he loves basketball in ''Film/SpaceJam'', when he makes it pretty clear he's not a sports guy later on, and Rob's mocked Doug for showing no interest in sports in a few vlogs.
* CharacterTics: Puckering his mouth when he's thinking, giving a DeathGlare with his mouth slightly open when he's trying to be angry but failing, and rubbing his chest any time he feels particularly naughty. The last is a Doug thing, as Ask That Guy does it and he himself is prone to it too. Reboot introduced clawing at the walls when he's in a particularly crazed-angry mood, as well as a wide-eyed pout when he's smugly trying to act innocent after he's said something shitty.
* TheChewToy: Part of the fun is seeing just how much he can suffer through a bad film before [[FreakOut he'll snap completely]].
** Not that he doesn't often deserve it, but the other contributors really do enjoy humiliating him. Even a long-dead [[VincentPrice guy]] has his fun.
* ChivalrousPervert: He gets upset at unneeded {{fanservice}}, [[PrincessesRule princesses]], [[DistressedDamsel damsels in distress]], [[SatelliteLoveInterest male-dependent women]] and so on, but he'll make it clear if he's attracted to a (usually toppy or curvy) lady.
** A good early example would be ''A Kid In King Arthur's Court'', as he creepily leers over the two sisters and wants incestuous lesbian sex, but also coins "dumbass in distress disorder", calling out films like this and others for having a strong woman in the first two acts yet needing a man to save her in the third.
** In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie Care Bears]]'' movie, his main theory about why the villain's voice is so cool is that she's getting oral while she does her lines. He then proceeds to act it out. (Her responses, not the eating out part.)
** He actually gets on fairly well with the site ladies and doesn't treat them any differently, but he's stated that he finds them all nice-looking.
* ChubbyChaser: Most of the women he's attracted to are on the voluptuous side.
-->'''Critic''': [when slow-motioning Rogue's bust] I'm a dirty young man yes I am.
** It also helps that he now has a [[{{BigBeautifulWoman}} Big Beautiful Woman]] wife.
* ClassClown: Subverted. He got pitied and bullied for not acting his age in eighth grade, although that hasn't stopped him from ''still'' not acting his age.
* ClosetKey: For Malcolm, who acted in the first Hyper vlog that this is his first crush on a guy and is “coming to terms” with it.
* CloseToHome:
** In the "Top 11 Disney Villains", Lady Tremain is the only one he wants to punch in the face that he hates so much. Lady Tremain of course being the only abusive parental figure on the list. And in the ''Cinderella Old vs New'', he gets very passionate about how relatable and actually strong the animated Cinderella is compared to the new, who he feels the creators tried to make flawless in an attempt to update the character.
** Anything that has kids getting hurt by adults, whether it's abuse, neglect, too much pressure or just bad messages. He has a big rant about ''ATrollInCentralPark'' giving the message that dreams can do anything, with his two examples being a dead dog coming back to life or divorced parents getting back together.
** A lot of his choices in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” are about people descending into insanity, or locked in their crazy not being able to get out, and making the relating explicit when he sadly says the scariest monsters are human and he (or anyone else) could act like one at any time.
* CloudCuckoolandersMinder: Usually serves this role for Chester, in that he'll look after him but sometimes take advantage of his need for drugs.
* ColorMotif: Blue. The lighting is often blue ([[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Doug apparently sucks at white balance]]), the wall went from a warm yellow-orangey in prime to white in reboot and then to a cold blue when people complained, he's got InnocentBlueEyes, and he [[WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee exploded into blue particles when he died]].
* CompensatingForSomething: Not in a “it's tiny” sense, the multiple crotch shots Doug likes joss that, but in the vein that it doesn't work due to all the groin attacks and he's having issues with this. There's a PlotThread from ''Film/BridgeToTerabithia'' to ''Film/TheShining'', where he reveals it in the former, gets passive aggressive at Leon in “Is The Big Lebowski A Masterpiece” for mentioning castration, and is really violent to Rachel in ''Shining'' to get his manhood back.
* CompositeCharacter: In reboot, people have noticed he has a lot more Ask That Guy traits (who vanished for ages and then came BackForTheDead), especially in WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot where Doug is improvising like he did for the former and episodes like “The Sixth Day” where he threatens MakeItLookLikeAnAccident deaths and is AnythingThatMoves.
* CompressedVice:
** ''Christmas Story II'' has the plot be Critic potentially losing his love for Christmas because of the bad movie, when 1) even he lampshades that will never happen and 2) the whole plot of the last review had the problem be that he loved Christmas ''too'' much (plus in the next week's editorial he rushes through it because again, wants it to be Christmas faster, and the ''Care Bears Nutcracker'' beginning has him suffering Christmas withdrawal).
** In ''Film/ThePurge'', he suddenly has a huge issue with being redundant, with even Malcolm asking why he'd risk his own life for that. Might just be self-righteous hypocrisy instead, considering he's doing the crossover that Film Brain demanded and he slaps Casper off after he says the above, but it's not made clear either way.
* CondescendingCompassion:
** After strawing him, ignoring him and having very little empathy, he eventually explains to Joe why ''Joe'' likes ''Film/ManOfSteel''. [[VillainHasAPoint Zod mocks him for the sad attempt at being a hero right afterwards]].
** PlayedForLaughs in “When Is A Movie Just A Movie” when his point is good (there are bigger problems than just movies) yet slathers on the condescension about how you can choose to not be effected by a movie. His ending is that he's the one with final say over which film is worth getting upset over though, so it's not irritating.
** “Why Do We Love Stupid” starts with him talking about the Dalai Lama's video on how compassion isn't weak but not quite getting the gist, using it to assume his “all comedy is misery” BiasSteamroller again.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror:
** The bad upbringing gives him a few moments, like thinking every family have regular giant arguments at dinner, rape not being considered a special type of evil or defending kinky fantasies at a very young age.
** Lampshaded in the “Top 11 New Halloween Classics”, where he admits that abusive family stuff at Halloween probably hasn't happened to you, but he has a past.
** He's also been taught to think that friendship is getting punished if you don't do what the more important one says.
* ConflictingLoyalty: Between his religious belief and wanting scientific proof that God exists. Mostly this is kept to the background not to offend anyone.
** In ''Maximum Overdrive'', he ''really'' wants to be a BloodKnight and perv on the violence, but also ''really'' wants to not be confined to his gender as his other hand keeps making him read Jane Austen whenever there's a violent scene.
** With Hyper. On the one hand he's scared of her, hates her enough to not even consider her a real person, has issues with kidnapping, and wants her gone. On the other hand he's tired enough to ShowSomeLeg[=/=]offer friendship in hopes that she'll leave him alone and not hurt him more. On the other other hand, even before StockholmSyndrome kicked in he indulged her because she gave him attention.
* ConstantlyCurious: In the first two commercial specials, even though he figures that the two 1800 numbers are run by pedophiles, he calls them anyway. (And doesn't hang up even though he's disgusted, but that's a different problem.)
* ConvertedFanboy: While played straight with WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender, Critic gaining memories of Doug's vlogs and calling it his most favorite show ever, oddly subverted with WesternAnimation/AdventureTime; Doug often talks about how it's made him feel better and safer when he watches it, but while references to it have seeped into the show, Critic is more resistant to the strangeness and only calls it a case of stupid comedy that works. This changed in “Are Kid Shows Now Better Than Ever” though, as he praised it for “I Remember You”, canon gay with PB/Marcy being ex-girlfriends, tackling Bubblegum's need for political control in a sympathetic way, and being a comedy that isn't afraid of going into depressing territory.
* TheCorrupter: He has this unintentional ability to turn otherwise basically decent people into sadists. (Like Lewis and Doug agreeing that Linkara put the idea to rape Critic into Spoony's head.)
* CorruptTheCutie: He was a Catholic schoolboy, and while he's still religious, now he has an active sex life that isn't so big on SafeSaneAndConsensual.
-->'''Critic A''': ["apologizing"] What would Jesus do?
-->'''Critic B''': [instantly horny] Take me!
* CosmicPlaything: He really should stop pissing off beings with more powers than him.
* CosplayOtakuGirl: A RareMaleExample. An [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} M Bison]] costume that he brags got him tons of pussy, a {{stripperiffic}} [[WebVideo/SuburbanKnights Link outfit]], and, for his review of ''{{Transformers}}'', an Optimus Prime suit with a conspicuous crotch bulge that we get to look at every now and then.
* CrazyJealousGuy: For Chick. He can't always stop it coming through the stronger IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy feeling. He's wary over her obsession with Todd, gets all growly when she fawns over Creator/JewWario in WebVideo/SuburbanKnights, and looks close to tears (to her credit, so is she) when he mentions she doesn't always return phone calls or emails.
** He's a far less sympathetic version in “The Review Must Go On”, as he makes assumptions about Demo Reel that just aren't true, and refuses to leave until Doug caves in bringing him back.
** To give a nod to the WebVideo/DemoReel example, he outright admits that he would give a positive review to The Uncanny Valley if he were in it, but he's not so has no choice.
** In ''Film/FoodFight'', he's breaking before over failing to get money, but Malcolm and Tamara {{squee}}ing over something together and ignoring him is the final straw as he trudges out. In the next review, ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', his punishment for them (which doesn't go over well) is to stay in the closet.
** In WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot, he gets possessive over anything that he considers his, from the Alf doll to [[HomoeroticSubtext General Anesthetic]].
* CrazyPrepared: “What You Never Knew About TMNT” is a video Critic just so happened to release in case he got captured by a crazy fan.
* CrazySurvivalist: He prepares with his gun, a police jacket, a S.W.A.T helmet, knuckle dusters and a baseball bat to watch ''Secret Of NIHM 2''.
* CreepyGood: When he wants to be disturbing, his mannerisms and voice are reminiscent of HIM from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. Just listen to him at the start of [[http://blip.tv/nostalgia-chick/nostalgia-chick-bratz-2723840 this]].
* CreepyShadowedUnderEyes: When an episode gives him black smears under his eyes (and it's not just Doug looking tired with no help), then it's a sign he's breaking harder than normal.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Remember that video with ''Bebe's Kids''? Remember how he complained so much? Remember how he did not complete the game? Apparently he is a good enough gamer to slam Angry Joe into next week in ''Marvel vs Capcom 2''.
-->'''Angry Joe:''' This man WHUPPED MY ASS!"
** He gets a BreakTheHaughty CurbStompBattle once Joe gets a [[http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/02/mvc3-grudge-match-angry-review/ brand new joystick though]].
* CrustyCaretaker: The only other job he's had is Doug's factory cleaner gig (this was when Doug was still in school) and he got in trouble for hitting on "Amanda" too much.
* CuteBookworm: He may not have all that much common sense, but have you ever noticed the vast amounts of books he owns?
* CuteButCacophonic: He sounds like a howler monkey when he really gets worked up with shouting, and there are people who don't even like his normal voice, stating they watch his episodes muted.
* CuteButPsycho: Sometimes sweet and {{adorkable}}, sometimes blowing up an entire city by accident because of a tantrum.
** Getting a SoProudOfYou from the Devil for a torture suggestion makes him giggle about having a lot to work with.
** “Psychotic princess” is the only way to describe him in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'', as he gleefully kidnaps people to force them to be his friends, and keeps asking if he looks pretty in the winning tiara. He does.
* CuteGlassesBoy: It's not that Doug isn't attractive anyway, but his glasses make him look very baby-faced.
* CuteMute: He's been traumatized into silence a few times, one of which was in Spooning With Spoony. Noah revealed in his commentary that the reason why Critic only had one line in that was because Doug wanted to play the victim as much as possible.
* CutenessProximity: He squees himself into teenage girl mode when he sees Snuffaluffagus in ''Series/SesameStreet''.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Adds another level of funny when you get that he has all these things he could justifiably complain about and he chooses to focus on shitty movies instead.
** Lampshaded in “Top 11 New Halloween Classics” where he says fucked up shit happening with family might not have happened to you much, but he's got a history.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Doug said once that he chose the black suit jacket to establish the Critic as the asshole to the Nerd's white-clad "hero", but also had the red tie and white shirt to offset any BlackAndWhiteMorality that may have came from it.
* DarkSecret: Accidentally strangling a hooker to death after WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} and while still in Reno. He admits this while thinking the camera's not on yet.
* DarkMessiah: He's friends with the devil, sold his soul, ''has'' saved the world three times and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' involves him being compared to Superman right before he has a screamfest about how the movie sucks.
* DatingCatwoman: According to Doug and Lindsay, he and the Chick have this sort of relationship. There's an interesting contrast between the Chick's crazed addiction to get Todd noticing her and her mutually bitchy but fun and warm dynamic with the Critic.
* DeadpanSnarker: Mixed in with StepfordSnarker and bitterness.
* DealWithTheDevil: He's so desperate to have to have Sequel Month erased from his memory that he'll do whatever Sage tells him to do. He traded his soul away to Malcolm's devil for the ability to do a Zod impression, which showed how little anything means to him post-retcon.
* DeathByDespair: After fully breaking down about how his life has gone nowhere, he gets about an inch away from it in his first commercials special.
* DeathByMaterialism: Downplayed. He doesn't die for being OnlyInItForTheMoney in regards to ''WesternAnimation/{{Foodfight}}'', but he does end up in a worse place of sanity than he was already.
* DeathSeeker: You know, you could just leave the room or switch off the TV instead of trying to off yourself constantly.
** After his brief period of happiness in the PlotHole, it's got even worse. In ''Son Of The Mask'' he's begging Satan to see sense and just let him die again.
** Right after Evilina tells him her dad will kill him if he finds out he left her alone, he agrees to come back, but looks over the horizon, stays that little extra longer and hits her later. And in ''Devil'' he outright goads [[spoiler: who he thinks is the Devil]] into killing him.
** In ''Ghost Dad'', [[spoiler: while he's only pretending to have died to torture Malcolm and Tamara]], he still poured gasoline all over himself and has nostalgic feelings over how nice it is to be dead.
* DefiantCaptive: Until he sees all the boy-pandering comics and StockholmSyndrome starts setting in, he gets in a few sarcastic comments to Hyper about the assassin pointing a gun at him or how long she's planning on keeping him for.
* [[DeliberatelyCuteChild Deliberately Cute Man-Child]]: In "Return Of The Commercials" after "killing things smaller than gives you power!" and an EvilLaugh, he giggles like a puppy-eyed girl when she's just been caught painting the walls.
* DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel: Hams it up like a stereotypical maiden when he thinks Todd is a "masked intruder" there to rape him, and sulks big time when he founds it's just time for a crossover.
* DemonicPossession: In the AVGN vs. NC Final Battle, he gets possessed by the devil when he's losing and can only be killed for a short period by Super Mecha Death Christ.
* DependingOnTheWriter:
** In his own reviews, Doug writes Critic as an ExtremeDoormat who'll always end up giving in to other contributors demands for a crossover. In others (like TheRapCritic's review of Shaq's album), he'll have the stones to ignore any request.
** Even with the BaitTheDog moment of being nice and subby then shooting her for no reason (which Doug lampshaded in the bloopers as grosser when he does it to a woman than vice versa), he's a lot less TroubledButCute in Lupa's "A Talking Cat" review, making more casual jokes and not treating her like he does Rachel or Tamara.
** He was always ditzier and more childlike in the ''Child's Play'' reviews with Phelous. Ended up contributing to their DramaticIrony dynamic [[spoiler: Phelous is WrongGenreSavvy because he thinks Critic is still a cowardly manchild, but in reality he's an atoning DeathSeeker]] in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee though, so TropesAreNotBad.
** In “The Review Must Go On”, when the Creator tells a seething Donnie that he'll be more understanding as the Critic, review!Critic mocks that the only 'understanding' videos are the editorials and the rest of the time he's even nastier than before.
* DesignatedMonkey: WordOfGod says he was ''created'' to suffer. Deconstructed in ''ScoobyDoo'' onwards, where he breaks down over how hellish his life is and wants nothing more than to do something good for once.[[invoked]]
* DespairEventHorizon: He's already well past it when ''Film/TheNeverendingStory III'' begins. He approaches it at the end of ''Film/MyPetMonster'' and start of the following "Nostalgic Commercials" video, falling over the edge near the end.
** The death of Ma-Ti in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' slowly eroded away what was left of his sanity and it all came to a head at the beginning of the ''ScoobyDoo'' review.
** From "The Odd Life Of Timothy Green" to "Does Romeo And Juliet Suck", he hypocritically (because he's gone right back to square one) preaches of how people grow up and learn to adapt. But all the misery comes flooding back in ''SonOfTheMask'' and he begs for death, so after that, nothing more is said about learning from your mistakes.
** All the meta from ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' hurt him a lot more than he let on in that episode, as in the next editorial he ends it talking about fighting too hard for your freedom makes your prison bars so much stronger.
** There's a whole swathe of events to choose from, but whatever happened before “Why Do We Love Zombies” got a speech about getting used to depression and giving in, letting it destroy you.
** Confirmed by Doug on the commentary, Critic almost kissing Hyper was going to be a stockholm version. Luckily Bennie reverses it by revealing her plan, but there are still issues post episode.
** In the BadFuture of 2019, he's completely alone, cries in front of Snob (who owns both him and the site) and has clearly crossed it a long time ago with no hope left at all.
* {{Determinator}}: He'll run all the way from Chicago to Philly to fight the Nerd (which apparently takes two weeks) and he won't even get tired.
* DeterminedDefeatist: He knows he's pathetic, but carries on because at least he's resilient.
* DefiledForever:
** Other than Chick going into DontYouDarePityMe mode and wanting revenge, he's the only left broken over getting raped by Spoony. Even if WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee where he's trying to save him, the spooning is still on his mind.
** While the two weeks that Hyper held him captive is more of a DidTheyOrDidntThey, he was really fucked up by what she did to him, and always backs away when they're in close contact.
** In ''Jem'', he uses this feeling to empathize with Rob Scallon's [[spoiler: apparent]] trauma over being in the movie, and asks if he was safe at least.
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: In “Cats And Dogs”, the abusive mother gets him to play fetch with her like he's a dog, and he realizes how pitiful it is to be happy about this when he's literally got the ball in his mouth.
* DirtyCoward:
** In ''Film/GhostDad'', he openly says he hopes his making Tamara and Malcolm feel shit about themselves will give him enough time to run to his car like a coward. [[spoiler: it doesn't.]]
** In the “Best Avatar Episodes”, he says “the needs of me outweigh the needs of you” to Malcolm when he leaves him to die.
** When Bay shoots at them in the ''Transformers 4'' review, he runs off [[spoiler: to get the ElectricTorture chair that he rigged up]] and tells Erod to draw his fire.
** In ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'', he immediately betrays Santa Christ. Though this is less dirty than most (he didn't want to get tortured and it's not like Santa Christ hasn't been horrible to him for a while), he's still cast as the Judas.
** In ''Film/HocusPocus'', he says the best way of dealing with the witches is "running away like a pussy".
* DisappearedDad: He's mentioned very rarely and Critic still lives with his mom. There's been a few hints that the parents got divorced. (This is in-character of course, Doug's dad - Barney Walker - has helped out a lot with music and such, therefore gets thanked in the credits.) In a 2015 ''Last Angry Geek'' episode, it was revealed that [[spoiler: Dr Smith]] was his father, and he'd [[spoiler: died of cancer]] not too long ago.
* DissonantSerenity: Before he goes into LackOfEmpathy, his ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'' post-explosion demenour is pretty blissful, knowing this day would come.
* DistractedByMyOwnSexy: When he's being all determined to face down the Nerd at Digital Press, he checks out his reflection in a shop window.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Dulcia of the ''PowerRangers Movie'' defeats a mob of "giant black chickens" by swinging two stick-weapons "throwing them into some kind of hypnotic trance":
-->'''Critic''': Yeah, how's that supposed to put you in a trance, taking two sticks and putting them up and down, up and down, up and down, [''cut to Dulcia in her BattleBikini''] up and down...up and down... [''picture slowly zooms in on her breasts'']...up and down...up and down... [''gets his hat knocked off''] [{{Beat}}] You win this round, Dulcea.
* DistressedDude: Has happened so many times that RealityEnsues and he's developed some serious issues because of it.
** He got kidnapped by the Game Heroes and was made to promote their stuff at gunpoint.
** When he was chloroformed by The Nostalgia Chick, he got just as much into the victim role.
** Spooning With Spoony II probably counts, seeing as how he was the only canon one who was roofied and judging by the details, Spoony really went to town on humiliating him.
** Made fun of in the ''{{Film/Sidekicks}}'' review where he acts like he's chained up.
-->'''Critic''': Next I bet you wanna hook up my nipples to a car battery, don't you? ''Don't you?''
** Also played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Care Bears Movie II|A New Generation}}'' when Christy's screaming wears him down even though he knows it's a trap.
-->'''Critic''': Oh my God, a bag!
** Teddy Ruxpin forces a gun in his mouth and makes him write a more positive review, killing him when he screams for help.
** Before Ma-Ti comes in to take the brunt of the abuse in the brawl, he spends most of the beginning on the floor. Both [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Linkara]] and the [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Chick]] joined in specifically to save him.
** Looks to be the case in Linkara's PreviouslyOn for ''Countdown'', with Chester in control and shot with HitlerCam, and Critic being shown in the opposite camera angle and surrounded by darkness. He recovers (with snark) better in this instance than he does the others.
** The amount of IHaveYouNowMyPretty moments he's been subjected to would make this list even longer.
** By ''Film/TheWiz'', all that distress seems to have warped his brain a little, as he's actually ''disappointed'' when learning Todd isn't a rapist LoonyFan who wants him.
** Near the end of ''Film/ManOfSteel'', Zod takes him hostage and would have slowly tortured him to death (making good on what was threatened in ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'') if it hadn't been for Superman's intervention.
** He's alone with Shya-Amon in ''Devil'' and is about to get {{Mind Rape}}d again before Devil-In-Santa-Christ saves his ass.
** “What You Never Knew About TMNT” strongly implies that Hyper Fangirl kidnapped him, as he's suddenly 'missing until further notice and terrified' after she had broken into his house. Turns out that she'd taken him to a BigFancyHouse that she got from a previous stalking victim and was making him do 'romantic' stuff with her (under gunpoint and torture threats) until he fell in love with her. He reminds her of this in the ''Christmas Story II'' rant but is MadeOutToBeAJerkass.
** In the ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' parody of 2014's Nostalgiaween, he takes the place of Justine and get stabbed, although this might be an hallucination of his.
** Subverted in ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, as he's technically there against his will, but he's fine and is especially happy watching losing contestants die. In the rebooted version, he's the one taking a page from Hyper and kidnapping people to try and make them his friends.
** For liking ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' more than ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'', he gets kidnapped by Devil Boner, Improbable Joe and the other War Boys.
** Lampshaded in ''Christmas With The Kranks'', where he asks “why is it whenever I wake up I have a 50/50 chance of being held against my will”?
** PlayedForLaughs in “Cats and Dogs”, when he was apparently held hostage by a [[http://aattp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/kid-with-gun-620x330.jpg this]] kid with a gun.
-->'''Critic''': I'm never taking that babysitting job again.
*** He's also creeped out by how calm the kid is while blindfolded and tied up, and says in his experience, he'd be scared shitless no matter what age he was.
** Also amusingly lampshaded in ''Cinderella: Old vs New'', as Hyper and Devil Boner are proud of the other for keeping Critic hostage so well.
** In the crossover review of ''BMX Bandits'', Diamanda Hagan uses General Anesthetic to hold him at gunpoint so he'll do the review with her. He's irritated but it's happened so much he takes it in stride.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: He's nearly always barefoot when playing around in his house.
* TheDogBitesBack: After getting beaten on by Casper for a whole episode, he puts on a Ghostbusters uniform and hunts him down.
** Likewise, with "True Internet Story", where he kicks the shit out of the Last Angry Geek for making wild accusations about his personality and earlier life.
* DomesticAbuser: In ''Film/TheShining'', it takes him no time at all to slip into abusive husband role to Rachel. She also acts like an abuse victim, rationalizing his behaviour and carrying on trying to help even when she's crying and he's toying with her.
* DontYouDarePityMe: In "Why Is Loki So Hot", he gets pissed about himself being put on [[invoked]] TheWoobie list [[note]]despite the fact that he isn't, he's on JerkassWoobie[[/note]] after reading that it means a character you feel bad for.
* DrinkOrder: Cupcake vodka. He has it in the PlotHole, and he wants it again when he's hallucinating in ''Film/TheShining''.
* DrivenByEnvy: Despite calling what he does analyzing (and being good at it), he'll always cut off the co-reviewer when they're "taking things too seriously". Chalk it up to his fear of AlwaysSomeoneBetter.
** He destroys Demo Reel and gives a bad review to The Uncanny Valley just because he doesn't like that [[Creator/DougWalker daddy]] wants to do other things that doesn't involve him for a change.
* DraggedIntoDrag: According to Spoony in his ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' video, he forced Critic to dress up like a dirty ballerina during Spooning With Spoony 2 and took pictures for blackmail.
* DragonWithAnAgenda:
** The other contributors think that he's the (ineffectual) MeanBoss of the site. In reality, it's The Other Guy (who answers to Michaud, who kidnapped him for [=BarFiesta=] and dismissed Critic as a monkey) and Critic's just a puppet with woefully poor self-esteem.
** Comes back in Sage's ''Speed Runner'' episode, where Critic kidnaps Sage and wants to keep him, but when Rob comes in and punishes him he's having a complete breakdown.
* TheDreaded:
** Malcolm tweeted after "The Worst Christmas Special Ever" that Critic now ''wants'' everyone to fear him.
** Brad name-drops the trope to refer to Critic before he comes out in the final round of the game show pilot.
* DrivenToMadness: ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' does this to the Critic in his 100th episode. It does it out of the ''sheer stupidity'' of the movie. So much so they sped the camera up for most of his breakdown.
** And ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' drives him [[IncrediblyLamePun 'batshit insane']], until he takes some pills. "Tranquilizers. Always come prepared when Schumacher is involved."
* DrivenToSuicide: In [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] review of Captain America, he asks for the Critics opinion on the movie, [[SeriousBusiness making sure he knows that if he doesn't]], [[KickTheDog he'll get blackmailed with crossdressing pictures from when he was roofied and raped]]. Cut to a shot of the Critic's elevated feet dangling from side to side while squeaking from a rope is heard.
-->'''Spoony''': "That's the coward's way out, and you know it, Critic!"
** After his "''{{Superman}}'' Top 11" review, the Critic mentions how the movies always make him smile, before remembering the tragic fates of Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and the World Trade Center.
--->''"I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm going to go kill myself."''
*** Not all ''Superman ''movies make him smile. From his ''Superman IV'' review. "How long is this movie again?" "Hour and a half." "BLAM!"
** ''Film/BioDome'' made him slash his wrists, although either he or someone else put plasters on them afterwards.
** The songs in ''The Pebble And The Penguin'' make him feel so dirty that he takes a bath with a toaster.
** It's made clear in WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee that he's trying to toe the line between wanting to die (plus that look of peace when he actually does) and wanting to fix his mistakes.
* DrunkWithPower: Seeing as how he has so little of it usually, when he does get the faintest whiff of power he'll try and cling to it as hard as he can.
** Less sympathetic in the reboot, as he says "power is always sexy, because the more of it you have, the more you can get whatever you want" in "Why Is Loki So Hot", and Doug confirmed in his "Disney Afternoon" commentary that having Tamara and Malcolm as essentially his toys to dress up was feeding into Critic's hunger for power.
** At the beginning of ''Sharknado'', he makes Snob say he needs Critic's help, just so he can be all giddy at the thought of it.
** In the second episode of ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' he openly connects his Critic suit to having power and forcing people to do things for him.
* DudeShesLikeInAComa: He pinches WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's ass--while almost unconscious himself.
* DumbStruck: Because Doug lost his voice again, ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' was so awful that Critic lost the ability to talk.
* TheDutifulSon: He knew his family is abusive, but always defended them anyway. Whether it came off as heartwarming or a case of StockholmSyndrome was up to you.
* DyingAlone: While it doesn't win the round, a CAH panel had Lewis use a card that said “Hello I'm the Nostalgia Critic, I'm dying alone and in pain so you don't have to”, and Doug nods happily.
* DynamicCharacter: He's grown up in a lot of ways, but has suffered SanitySlippage in other areas.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Mostly a feminist, he still has his moments that come out in either RealWomenDontWearDresses beliefs or trying to see how far he can go until he gets [[{{fetish}} put back in his place]].
* EntitledBastard: Mixed with UngratefulBastard, in ''Film/TheMonsterSquad'' he tells Tamara that he'll probably need saving in the third act and if she, a “worthless sack of nothingness” could do it that'd be great.
** In ''We Wish You A Turtles Christmas'', he demands Tamara do her Dorothy impression even when she's dying from the explosion, and uses her as a footstool when she complains at him.
* EmptyShell:
** He's got very close to this twice before snapping himself out of it. Funnily enough, both with song.
** In “The Dark Age Of Movies”, he references this seriously by adding in “sometimes in life all you can do is just survive”.
** Being {{mind rape}}d by Shya-Amon literally turns him into one of the BrainlessBeauty type.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: ''Cartoon Allstars'' making him so miserable that he sees no other way out than to [[DrivenToSuicide shoot himself]] [[DeathIsCheap in the head]].
** And a more subtle one at the beginning. Even though seeing the movie "brings back a pool of disappointing memories", he's smiling when he says he has to watch it again.
** And another near the end. When the characters refuse to stop hammering the moral in, he starts to disagree when they say he should believe in himself and that they care about him.
** The reboot gets {{foreshadowing}} for later cruel out of the way quickly, as he bitches on a random guy's looks, calls the audience "uniquely lazy", talks like Ask That Guy when making a NAMBLA reference, and kills a kitten all in first few minutes.
* EthicalHedonist: He admits that the nexus - where you feel nothing but timeless joy and don't care about anything else - would be awesome, but he still gets irritated at Kirk for doing a 180 from "I need my pain" to "I don't want responsibility".
* EthicalSlut: He thinks everyone, regardless of age or gender, should just have loads of sex and let the stigma of sluttiness as a bad thing die out.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: As much as he couldn't stand the Nerd, calling him TheIrateGamer is going too far.
** He does a NotMeThisTime when Todd, Jesu, Y and Rollo T accuse him of making them watch ''Film/TheLastAirbender''. He doesn't even know who they are.
** Even he couldn't bring himself to insult ''Series/SesameStreet''.
** As bloodthirsty as he is in the ''WebVideo/PopQuizHotshot'' pilot, he starts getting a little disturbed by John's offscreen messy death as time goes on. In other episodes, when he's running the show, he's creeped out by the “spazzies” (violent animations done by Doug) and offers whoever made them some of his meds.
* EvenNerdsHaveStandards:
** The dorky dancing Peter does in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' is too geeky even for him.
** Subverted in the Harry Potter book launch. After spending the majority of the video bitching about it, he has a FreakOut {{squee}} larger than anyone when the books start coming out.
** There's an affectionate potshot at erotic fanfic writers when George Lucas and Carrie Fisher are the couple in ''Film/{{Hook}}''.
** He gets to be on the other side of it when even [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester]] laughs at him because he watches ''WildWestCOWBoysOfMooMesa''.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Falls for this trope with regard to Creator/WillSmith when reviewing ''Film/IndependenceDay''.
** KeithDavid as well. It's the [[ArousedByTheirVoice voice.]]
** Continuing the trend, he's so charmed by Ernie Hudson in ''Congo'' that he calls him a "black Clark Gable".
** He has a PlayedForLaughs crush on Lucas from ''TheWizard''.
** His utter glee over Creator/DanielCraig and Creator/KateWinslet sharing a kiss suggests it's not just Miss Winslet he finds appealing.
** "Ohhh, George Takei, teach me the Spocker!" Said like he's having an orgasm, no less, and made slightly creepy because of the CallBack to [=SWS2=].
** And now he wants Creator/HughJackman. To be fair, everyone wants Creator/HughJackman. Called back in a very HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday way in the ''Film/LesMiserables'' review, where he says “if you were a girl you'd probably be thankful to have Wolverine save you”.
** Despite his denial and annoyance, he has a moment of swoon for every Avengers man in "Why Is Loki So Hot", saving special StupidSexyFlanders feelings for Thor. And in ''Fantastic Four'', while making a point that everyone's too pretty, Chris Evans is still the only one he calls a beautiful specimen.
** In “The Review Must Go On” he rides Mark Wahlberg's fake dick to make Doug feel uncomfortable, and in ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'' he says it'd be every woman's dream to buy the guy.
** In ''Disney Afternoon'', he states the obvious in that Tim Curry can wear women's clothing and still be hot.
** In ''Film/MammaMia'', he says the choice of Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård is “an adventure of Choose Your Own DILF”.
** In ''Labyrinth'', he shows a lot of appreciation for Bowie as 'girl porn', even giving him the dubious honor of saying he's the only man who could make 50 Shades work. In "David Bowie's Codpiece", he also says that the movie with David Bowie being homoerotic with other men is in his "private collection".
** In ''BMX Bandits'', he doesn't even know who Angelo D'Angelo is, but with that name he already wants to {{squee}} about how "dreamy" he is.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Only known as The Critic most of the time. Although Rob/The Other Guy will occasionally call him by his real name.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** He usually “jumps at the opportunity” to make a dick joke, but the one in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfPlutoNash'' is so half-assed that he just wants to relish the next one and pass this over.
** Doug has said plenty of times that he loves anything to do with gender role reversal, but Critic has no patience for cartoon Zelda's ep about it because they'd ''already'' switched it up.
* EveryoneHatesMath: He can't remember any algebraic equation from school. [[WritersCannotDoMath Which would explain a lot.]]
* EverythingIsRacist: Most of the time he has a good point, but at other times he can get on his soapbox a little too much.
* EvilAllAlong: Subtle retcon in ''Film/TheShining'', as before then the reboot was always unclear whether Critic was ''supposed'' to be good but really didn't come off that way, or CameBackWrong and he didn't know what he was doing, or ThenLetMeBeEvil. Rachel telling him that she wished she could say that he was once nice to her but that wouldn't be true, proves it a mix of the last two.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he talks about knowing Mormons in "Top 11 South Park Episodes", he's throughly confused over how anyone could be "unusually nice, and ethical, and not angry, and just... ''pleasant''".
** More dickish than evil but in “Why Do We Love Stupid”, he talks about watching the Dalai Lama's video on compassion but a few minutes later shows he didn't quite understand by putting in three screamers in a row [[note]]something that people with anxiety especially really hate[[/note]] and then telling people to admit they liked the first screamer they saw. To put this into perspective, the Ask That Guy episode with a screamer [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/ask-thatguy/505-ask-thatguy-episode-5 had a warning]].
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheShining'' where he just wants to attack Stephen King because he's making his living by entertaining others.
-->'''Critic''': Oh-ho, we'll show him, won't we Pennywise?
* EvilerThanThou: After a long chase scene in ''BMX Bandits'', he admits Diamanda is darker than him, but that he still wants someone shot to alleviate the boredom.
* EvilSoundsDeep: For whatever reason, in “The Review Must Go On”, his voice was smoother, more in control, and almost {{squick}}ily seductive. And whenever he thought Doug was wriggling out of his power, it only got lower and more threatening.
* EvilMatriarch: The old lady devil in [[Film/{{Devil}} said film]] giving a man a BreakThemByTalking speech reminds him of his angry mother balling him out. And there are plenty of other examples of awful things she's apparently done to him.
* ExtremeDoormat: While he's a brat who loves starting arguments, he falls apart with little provocation. He's aware of this.
-->'''Critic''': I just do what everyone tells me to do in the hopes of feeling less insecure.
** Subverted in ''The Top 11 Strangest Couples'', as when Little Kuriboh is in bed with him, he says okay to touchies while looking like he's going to cry, but throws the other man out when his chest gets groped.
[[/folder]]
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[[index]]
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesAToE
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesFToM
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesNToZ
[[/index]]
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesAToE
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesFToM
* Characters/TheNostalgiaCriticTheCriticTropesNToZ
[[/index]]
