History DethroningMoment / Literature

* Tropers/{{TenderLumpling}}: Remus Lupin trying to abandon his pregnant wife in HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows. Up to that point, Lupin was the most well-adjusted, accessible, and above all ''reasonable'' adult in the series. Then he went to Grimmauld Place and tried to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione after telling them that (1) Tonks was pregnant and (2) he wanted to join them because he thought he was stupid for even marrying her, let alone getting her pregnant [[spoiler: Okay, he had a good reason for not being happy that she was pregnant -namely, he didn't want to pass on his lycanthropy to another generation- but that is ''not'' a good excuse for abandoning her]]. Basically, he was saying, "I can't face up to my duties as a husband and father, so I'm going to re-live my Marauder days!" Considering how much Rowling values courage, and how popular Lupin is, the decision to have him do something so cowardly is just mind-boggling.

* Tropers/{{TenderLumpling}}: Remus Lupin trying to abandon his pregnant wife in HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows. Up to that point, Lupin was the most well-adjusted, accessible, and above all ''reasonable'' adult in the series. When he went to Grimmauld Place and tried to join Harry, Ron, and Hermione after telling them that (1) Tonks was pregnant and (2) he wanted to join them because he thought he was stupid for even marrying her, let alone getting her pregnant [[spoiler: Okay, he had a good reason for not being happy that she was pregnant -namely, he didn't want to pass on his lycanthropy to another generation- but that is ''not'' a good excuse for abandoning her]]; basically, he was saying, "I can't face up to my duties as a husband and father, so I'm going to re-live my Marauder days!" Considering how much Rowling values courage, and how popular Lupin is, the decision to have him do something so cowardly is just mind-boggling.

* One moment to a troper, if multiple entires are signed to the same troper the more recent one will be cut.

* Do not remove an entry from the page (unless the event in question is blatantly untrue) nor create a JustifyingEdit to defend a moment—it goes without saying YourMileageMayVary.
* Try and make entries actual [=DMOSs=], not just a protracted whinge about how bad a book series has become. Deconstructions of tasteless jokes don't really count.
* Remember, you're only allowed one moment per show, so either pick the worst moment, or don't list anything at all.

* [[Main/SwordOfTruth Richard Rahl]] deciding that anyone protecting the enemy was evil, rather than just really, really misguided.
* As a "straw that broke the camel's back", I submit {{Marty Stu}}'s [[LukeIAmYourFather real parentage]] as stated in ''[[TheInheritanceCycle Brisingr]]''.
* [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy MostlyHarmless]]: The absolute nadir was the death of [[spoiler:Fenchurch]]. Seriously, that may well be single most useless character death in the history of fiction.
* ''TalesOfTheBountyHunters'': IG-88 takes over the second Death Star. The energy that goes into [[WallBanger banging that wall]] could blow away Alderaan
* Tropers/{{szaleniec1000}}: The moment in the ''StarWars'' Novelization of AttackOfTheClones when someone decided that "unit" in the dialogue of ''AttackOfTheClones'' referred to a single trooper rather than, you know, a '''''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_%28military%29 unit]]''''', giving us ridiculously small numbers of troops even for a universe in which SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Where's TimothyZahn [[FixFic when you need him?]] The Star Wars Galaxy has been stated at having well into millions of inhabited worlds. Three million units has been stated in the literature a few times. If "unit" = one soldier, then only three million clone troopers were created over the course of the entire Clone Wars. For comparison, North Korea has an army of eleven million available for service - and it's half an Asian peninsula that's not even in wartime! Even worse? Sources place the droid armies at over a quadrillion, making the clones outnumbered more than three hundred thousand to one!
* Karen Traviss and her endless insistence, in every book she writes, that the Jedi are evil - that they ''deserved'' Order 66 and genocide - because they led armies of clones. Combined with her adoration of ProudWarriorRace Mandalorians and the fact that ''she's never read the rest of the EU'', this makes her writing into something of a slog. All Jedi are either nasty and hopelessly incompetent, hopelessly incompetent, spineless, and slavishly worshipful towards Mandalorians, or have some vestige of competence and promptly leave the Jedi to become Mandalorians. No exceptions. She takes a character named Scout, a Padawan who in the hands of her creator was weak in the Force but fiercely determined to be a Jedi and respected by Yoda himself for it, and makes her [[CharacterDerailment happily join the armored mercenary people because "The Jedi thought she was weak".]]
* The ''{{Twilight}}'' series has a bunch of creepy and badly written moments, but the one that stands out in my mind was when Bella was "flattered," to find out her new boyfriend - with the very, very strong urge to drink her blood - had been secretly breaking into her house for the last few weeks to watch her sleep. He even offers up the excuse that he had nothing better to do at night. Yes, Edward, it's perfectly okay to stalk someone every night because you're ''bored''.
** For this troper, the DethroningMomentOfSuck for ''Twilight'' occurs at the end of the fourth book "Breaking Dawn", when [[spoiler:the horde of enemies bows to the ContractualImmortality of the MarySue Empress and her TastesLikeDiabetes daughter and walks away without even starting the massive battle they came for. I was expecting a Fight Scene, goddamnit! Or at least a BolivianArmyEnding.]]
** I propose an honourable mention to the Vamp Tooth Caesarean. Oh, hell, an honourable mention to Renesmee in general starting with THE NAME.
** I checked out way earlier in the series -- at the end of book one, after spending almost 1/3 of the book setting up the huge confrontation between the Cullens and The Big Bad, [[spoiler: the whole fight happens off-camera while Bella is unconscious]].
** I propose an honorable mention to the fact that the vampires SPARKLE. It makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever even in context and felt like a really, really ''really'' bad cop-out. Yes, it's creative, but it gave way for ''TONS'' of FridgeLogic.
** How about Edward taking apart Bella's engine and having his (vampiric, much more powerful) sister kidnap Bella so that she can't see Jacob? And with the flimsy excuse that it was for her safety. I was so frustrated after this point - why would she want to stay with someone who could and chose to control her like that?
** For me, the [[DethroningMomentOfSuck worst part]] of Twilight was Jacob's Character Development. I was fine with the wolf thing--that was hot. But later, in the fourth book, where he [[spoiler:imprints on an infant]] was just SICK. AND. WRONG. to me. Sure, Meyer may have said that it's not [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean like that]] yet, but the "yet" implies that it will be. So. Great. Beastiality and Pedophilia. Icky, icky, icky! I also have that issue with the whole Edward/Bella thing. They even [[LampshadeHanging said it in the second movie]]!! "Maybe I shouldn't be dating such an old man. It's gross." << Said by BELLA.

** For me, the DMOS is John Galt's speech at the end. Fiction is supposed to illustrate the ideas, through the actions of the characters, not by having a character recite a 90-page essay. It's a failure to understand the medium of fiction.
*** The credibility of Galt's speech isn't necessarily improved by the following fact: While John Galt was capable of changing more or less the entire world with his words and actions, was Ayn Rand in real life incapable of convincing ''her own sister'' to NOT return to the Soviet Union after her visit to the United States. [[hottip:* :One might call that [[{{Irony}} difference between objective reality and Objectivist reality]].]]
* Tropers/Samadhir The infamous [[RapeIsLove rape-scene]] in [[AynRand Rand's]] ''TheFountainhead'', where [[GodModeSue Howard Roark]] forces himself on Dominique Francon. Now, I'm aware of the various justifications that have been offered for the scene, like "it wasn't really rape" or "she actually wanted it" or that it was "rape by engraved invitation", which might actually be true (though that would open an entirely new can of UnfortunateImplications by itself). But even if you accept that, the scene just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Up until this point in the novel, Roark has shown absolutely zero sexual or romantic interest in ''anyone'', and is also presented as a man of integrity who's a staunch supporter of individual rights and self-determination. And then suddenly, the novel wants us to believe that over the course of a couple of days, by seeing Dominique from a distance at his quarry and doing some repair-work in her house, Roark's sexual instincts arise, he recognizes her as his life's true love (as he never shows any interest in anyone but her throughout the novel), and manages to deduce enough about her psychological make-up from a couple of short meetings to know that she will enjoy being raped. Aside from being extremely impropable, the scene destroys much of Roark's character and makes him a lot less sympathetic. Of note is that the scene isn't an isolated incident; whenever a sex-scene occurs in the novel it's usually described as violent, rough, or "a shocking intimacy that needed no consent from her, no permission", a pattern that repeats itself in ''AtlasShrugged''. Since reading the novel, I have read several analyses where the rape-scene is presented as "an abstract meditation of violence and frigidity" or "a violent, joyful answer to the age-old paradox of what occurs when an immovable object meets an irresistable force" (no, seriously), which I think misses a much simpler explanation: Rand enjoyed rape-fantasies and so she wanted a scene in her novel that expressed that, regardless of whether it made any sense or if it destroyed its characters.
* [[HarryPotter Voldemort's]] [[spoiler:"death scene".]] So we're at the end of the series, the prophecy that either Harry or Voldemort ''has to die'' is about to be fulfilled [[EitherOrProphecy one way or another]], Harry's [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse learned]] a handy little ''Sectumsempra'' spell in the previous book that's not illegal to use and can at least slit Voldemort's throat if not decapitate him, and what does Harry do? He uses the completely nonlethal ''Expelliarmus''. [[spoiler:It ''works'', but that's beside the point...]] by using the spell in the first place Harry has gone beyond BadassDecay into [[TheChick Chick]] territory. Keep in mind also that the guy Harry is fighting in this scene is not only a CompleteMonster but a rather {{Anvilicious}} CaptainErsatz of Hitler.
** I was disappointed that the last battle was not a test of skill, strength of will, attitude or anything, but essentially [[{{Anticlimax}}boiled down to a formality.]] [[spoiler: But I killed him! I will win!" "Au contraire! His death was planned, and then '''I''' disarmed the guy who disarmed '''him''' before, so '''I''' win! Seriously, I expected more badassery, less bureaucracy.]]
*** What pissed me off about it was that Harry and Voldemort finally come face-to-face, for the last time...[[spoiler:And they just stare at each other, and start ''monologuing.'' [[FlatWhat WHAT.]] Jesus Christ, don't stand there talking, FINISH EACH OTHER OFF!]]
*** Harry telling Voldemort to "try for some remorse". Stupid line. Yes, it was foreshadowed, but that doesn't detract from the stupid.
** To me, the terrible sue-laden epilogue is the ultimate dethroning moment of suck. Just, ugh, what was J.K. Rowling thinking!? It's like she got some random fangirl from fanfiction.net to write it!
** Voldemort's speech before he has his big final battle against Harry. I'm sorry, Rowling, I was under the impression that I'd bought a fantasy novel and not a stammering argument about how Harry Potter isn't a GaryStu. Get to the fucking fight already.
** Tropers/{{tenderlumpling}}: Remus Lupin trying to abandon his pregnant wife in DeathlyHallows. That was the point where (1) I lost all respect for that character and (2) I wished [[TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Uncle Phil]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxQKXNHzT0Y would have stepped into Grimmauld Place and given Lupin a badly-needed attitude adjustment]].
** Tropers/{{tenderlumpling}}: For this troper, the line, "But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood." Whoa, whoa, ''WHOA!'' We are talking about [[spoiler: Lily Potter]], the one character whose HeroicSacrifice was the single most important one in the series, who was supposedly TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, and now we find out that she was perfectly willing to put up with her best friend's FantasticRacism ''as long as it didn't apply directly to her?!'' JKR might think of that as an indicator of [[spoiler: Lily's]] forgiving nature, but to me, it turns her from a well-meaning friend into an all-out bitch. [[spoiler: She and [[JerkAss James]] were perfect for each other.]]
*** If reacting this way to being stabbed in the back by someone you've stood up for even when it cost you makes you an all-out bitch, I suppose the only kinds of people in the world are doormats and all-out bitches.
*** No, the "putting up with her best friend's FantasticRacism ''as long as it didn't apply to her''" part does. She ''knew'' he called Muggleborns "Mudbloods", and he probably called a few of her friends "Mudblood" as well. He was wrong for doing it, but by not ditching him when he refused to stop she became his enabler, and which is worse: Doing or allowing?
*** She didn't put up with his FR, she called him on it before they broke up. The only reason she didn't break up with him earlier was that he was a very lonely and needy former best friend. The part you quoted is her pointing out that his apology was hypocritical.
*** Not to mention [[spoiler:she's supposed to be ''completely selfless'']]. Yup, nothing wrong with this picture at all.
*** I believe the statement in the text was that her sacrifice was selfless, not that she had a selfless personality in general.
*** Uh, no, it was mentioned plenty of times in the books that she was a [[InformedAbility very kind and selfless]] character, which is why they became friends in the first place. Also, now I'm supposed to think that he was a pity friend for the last year of their relationship? ''[[ItGotWorse Not. Helping.]]''
* ''{{Huckleberry Finn}}'' is one of the most moving, thought-provoking novels ever written and is a non-stop parade of awesome and funny. ... until Tom Sawyer enters the picture at the last act. I am still bleeding internally from the concentrated amount of suck from then on.
** The reason Twain even included Tom in the book was because [[CreatorBacklash he hated the character and everything he represented]] and wanted others to hate him too. He probably succeeded beyond his wildest dreams for some. That and Twain spent the better part of several years working on the book in fits and starts. Sometimes his way of breaking out of his writer's block worked (the Duke and Dauphin). Sometimes, this happened.
* Depending on the reader, for the ''AnitaBlakeVampireHunter'' series the DMOS is either in ''Killing Dance'' where she finally sleeps with a vampire and undoes her catchphrase "I don't sleep with vampires. I kill them" or in ''Narcissus in Chains'' where she meets the ardeur and immediately begins to hump everything in sight. Not only that, but she turns into a GodMode MarySue and it all just goes downhill from there.
** I concur with ''Narcissus in Chains''; at least with her sleeping with Jean Claude in ''Killing Dance'', it opened up an interesting love triangle that also served to soften her black and white view of the supernatural side of St. Louis, and deepen her character as a whole. ''Narcissus in Chains'', though, turned her into into what you just described, and the book into one bad porn fanfic after another. A porn fanfic that's [[AmbiguouslyGay so far back into the closet]], it borders on full-blown paranoid denial homophobia.
* ''[[GregoryMaguire Mirror Mirror.]]'' Bianca wakes up from her long sleep to find that SheIsAllGrownUp... and then several years' worth of periods hit her at once (even though the rest of puberty apparently wasn't delayed), resulting in a scene this troper derisively refers to as the "menstrual blood fountain." Of course, this is assuming you weren't already squicked out of reading further by Cesare pedo-hitting on her...
** Tropers/RiL: I found a [=DMOS=] at the end of ''Son of a Witch'': [[spoiler:after a long, rambling, essentially pointless story, suddenly these two characters have sex! Out of nowhere! With no explanation, leadup, or bearing on the story! ''What?'']] Unfortuately Maguire tends to shoot himself in the foot in just about every story by dropping in something gratuitously and rather pointlessly sexual/scatological seemingly just for the shock factor (like the scene [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment with the tiger]] in ''Wicked''). It is, to paraphrase [[ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]], like eating a delicious meal only to have the chef randomly come out and fart in your face.
* ''NineteenEightyFour'': [[{{All There in the Manual}} Goldstein's Book]]. One of the most infamous {{Author Filibuster}}s in literature. Now, I personally found this a very fascinating discussion about how totalitarianism can grip any society. But almost every person I spoke to absolutely hated this section--it brings the tense romance story to a screeching halt and has little to do with one of the most chilling fictional scenes in history that happens in a few chapters. Is there any wonder why Orwell engaged in blatant {{Lampshade Hanging}} with Julia falling asleep while Winston read the book? Yeah. Take your place upon the {{Dethroning Moment of Suck}} heap, Goldstein.
** The good news is that you can pretty much skip over both of the selections from Goldstein's book and not miss anything vital to the plot. The edition I have, and I'd imagine others, even uses a different font and indentation to make this easy.
** For many high school students who have to read the book, particularly sadistic teachers will include test and quiz questions specifically drawn from the boring depth's of Goldstein's book, making the reading of those sections unavoidable!
* ''{{The Grapes of Wrath}}'': The touching {{Downer Ending}} (with optional {{Hope Spot}}) was ruined for me by two plot points that [[{{What do you mean its not symbolic}} that were obviously meant to be Biblical and symbolic and all that crap]] but were ruined by {{Squick}} and accidental {{Nausea Fuel}}. While taking refuge from the water outside, [[{{Break the Cutie}} Rose of Sharon]] gives birth to a stillborn. Pa Joad places the infant corpse into a ''paper raft and floats it into town''. Not wanting her milk to go to waste, Rose then ''breast-feeds a starving old man''. [[{{MST3K}} For the love of Heidegger]], Steinbeck, why did you make us read that?!
** {{YMMV}}, I found that scene heartbreakingly beautiful.
* The ending of ''The Hero of Ages'', the third book in the ''{{Mistborn}}'' trilogy, does it for me. The series had been one of my all-time favorites up to that point - the dialogue, the plot, the epic story, the brilliant twists and revelations. Some of this troper's all-time favorite characters are in the Mistborn series. However, the ending of the last book just totally took all of my joy and flushed it down the toilet. All right, after three whole books of following Vin and Elend and watching their character development, their interaction, their hopes and dreams, we get to the final climax. The whole book has been setting [[FaceHeelTurn Marsh]] up for a HeroicSacrifice. We go through an ''epic'' final battle and confrontation, loaded with everything from Allomancers, to Koloss, to Mistwraiths, to ''Gods''. And what happens? [[spoiler: Marsh stays under Ruin's control and decapitates Elend]]! WTF?! But that's not the worst of it. Moments later, Vin--Elend's wife--decides [[spoiler: Elend had already died a year ago at the Well of Ascension, and he had only been given back to her for a short while by fate]]. By that point I was shocked and horrified, but still hoping, by some miracle, that everything would turn out alright, but then the unthinkable happens. [[spoiler: Vin sacrifices herself to take down Ruin, and dies! Then, Sazed(the Wangsty loser who's been wasting our time through the whole book) steps over their corpses and takes all the power and glory for himself, basically turning into a God.]] And finally, just to make sure to rub salt into a wound, Sanderson barely gives us an ending. After the resolution, the "epilogue" consists of about 5 pages of a little description of what happens afterwards, showing nothing about how the world turns out, what the survivors do, nothing. Just a little acknowledgement that [[spoiler: the world is back to normal.]] It's almost like the author included it as a postscript. What. The. ''Hell.'' ''Sanderson''!
* ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''. The ending. So, the series finally escapes redundancy around book seven book and gets a good plot going. Then killed off by the [[NoEnding "end"]] answers ''no'' questions and then [[BadWriting "lampshades"]] this, by giving the "moral" that "Dude, you can't answer ''everything''."
** It's especially annoying because the [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis narrator]] ''does'' know all the answers, has been personally involved in all the mysteries mentioned in the series, and has two side-books which only elaborate on how he knows all the solutions. So what it turns into is the author laughing madly because you bought fifteen books and now you're pissed. TropesAreTools, and all of us reading the books were expecting him to use what had become a running gag to find a quibble that would give us a decent ending. He had plenty of time to think of a more rewarding ending than he gave us but still maintin the intergety of the series, or [[DownerEnding resolve the plot points with unfortunate events]] rather than just not telling us anything and expecting us to go "Ha-ha, he was right all along! I shouldn't have read the series!"
* In the ''{{Everworld}}'' series, this comes in the eleventh book, ''Mystify the Magician.'' While the book itself is generally half-assed, hastily scrapped together, and gives the feeling of being only partly finished, the ultimate Dethroning Moment comes with the transformation of the intriguing, ambiguous, and deeply human Magnificent Bastard [[spoiler: Senna Wales]] into a CardCarryingVillain hefting around the VillainBall. Despite receiving ''extensive'' backstory and character development just two books ago, all of that is thrown out and [[spoiler: she]] becomes a two-dimensional maniac. From MagnificentBastard to SmugSnake, from TrueNeutral to ChaoticEvil, from DangerouslyGenreSavvy to GenreBlind, from DeathGlare to EvilGloating, from TheChessmaster to VillainousDemotivator, from CoolAndUnusualPunishment to ColdBloodedTorture, from VisionaryVillain to DespotismJustifiesTheMeans with helpings of ForTheEvulz, from ManipulativeBastard to BondVillainStupidity, with OverNineThousand levels in [[TookALevelInJerkass jerkass]] and [[TookALevelInDumbass dumbass]] gained in the process. It felt like a betrayal of everything that had made the character original and interesting beyond any other run-of-the-mill villain, and then [[spoiler: she]] proceeds to die one of the most unsatisfying deaths ever conceived. If there is anything worse than watching such a fabulous MagnificentBastard go this low, this troper doesn't know of it.
** And let's not get into the twelfth and final book that came after that, which is one of the worst "endings" this troper has ever seen (and I use that term lightly.)
* In the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' Chronicles novel "Dragons of Spring Dawning" the Golden General, Laurana, has her DMOS when she falls for Kitiara's ObviousTrap. Much of the Chronicles was about Laurana's personal growth as she evolved from a naive and self-absorbed child to a dedicated and intelligent heroine capable of leading armies. This incident completely undid all that CharacterDevelopment with Laurana suddenly acting so irresponsible as to abandon her army at the height of the war and so stupid as to blindly trust her ArchEnemy Kitiara even though Kitiara is requiring her to come in person to a meeting site without bringing any guards or telling anyone. And the kicker is Laurana does all this, leaving her troops in the lurch and putting her own life in great jeopardy, for a man who has already rejected her and who she believes is willingly serving the [[TheEmpire Dragonarmies]]. The end result is [[spoiler: Laurana is kidnapped, [[AttemptedRape nearly raped]], and spends the rest of the novel as a DistressedDamsel]].
* Kevin J. Anderson somehow managed to score one ''over the course of two different series'', the Dune Prequel "House" series and the Starcraft novel he wrote. In Dune, "House Harkonnen", the newly-crowned Emperor Shaddam is given some documents for signing and confirmation including a list of people to be executed. He takes a quick look and ticks them all, figuring he has better things to do. It is bad enough that it reduces the Villainy of the Emperor to a comical level but ''nothing'' compared to the DMOS that hits in his Starcraft novel. In one of the first chapters, the newly-crowned Emperor Arcturus Mengsk receives a bunch of documents including an execution list. Not only he repeats the ''exact'' gesture of Shaddam despite their character differences, that whole section read almost exactly like the bit in Dune. For all I know, it was a copypaste with only the names changed. Naturally, rage ensued.
* Tropers/{{Lurwak}}: In "Idlewild", when the main character is faced with the fact that [[spoiler: his main love interest is dead]], but has (or will have) access to [[spoiler: "cloning technology"]], he...gives up. Yeah.
** Clones arent exact copies of the original person as proven by the clone of himself that had a very different early life. Also that would be a bit squicky him being many years older and essentially her father. So in the end it was sad and she died for no reason but it made sense.

** This troper was quite annoyed by the [[spoiler: ResetButton ending too, where everyone just forgets about what happened.]]

** A matter recognized by Eddings himself; the prequels establish that Zedar is not ''nearly'' as innocent as the FanDumb thinks.

* ''[[FridayThe13th Friday the 13th]]: The Jason Strain'' had the potential to be at least decent if the author had kept it a ''BattleRoyale'' rip-off (but with {{Condemned Contestant}}s) instead of [[HalfwayPlotSwitch randomly dumping that plot]] in favor of one involving the outbreak of a zombie plague.

** Remus Lupin trying to abandon his pregnant wife in DeathlyHallows. That was the point where (1) I lost all respect for that character and (2) I wished [[TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir Uncle Phil]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxQKXNHzT0Y would have stepped into Grimmauld Place and given Lupin a badly-needed attitude adjustment]].

* From ''{{Animorphs}}'', the characterization of Chapman in "The Andalite Chronicles." Elsewhere in the series Chapman was portrayed as a deeply tragic figure, who voluntarily became a slave to the Yeerks to ensure his daughter's safety and is now anguished at having to help them conquer the world. And then this prequel novel hits, and it turns out teenage Chapman is a {{Jerkass}} {{Nietzsche Wannabe}} who gleefully tries to sell out his whole planet {{For The Evulz}}.

** For this troper, the line, "But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood." Whoa, whoa, ''WHOA!'' We are talking about [[spoiler: Lily Potter]], the one character whose HeroicSacrifice was the single most important one in the series, who was supposedly TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, and now we find out that she was perfectly willing to put up with her best friend's FantasticRacism ''as long as it didn't apply directly to her?!'' JKR might think of that as an indicator of [[spoiler: Lily's]] forgiving nature, but to me, it turns her from a well-meaning friend into an all-out bitch. [[spoiler: She and [[JerkAss James]] were perfect for each other.]]

* In S.L. Viehl's ''Blade Dancer'': [[spoiler:Jory agreeing to have Kol's babies at some point in the future, after she'd previously made it clear that she [[ChildFreeIsNotAllowed didn't]] ''[[ChildFreeIsNotAllowed want]]'' [[ChildFreeIsNotAllowed babies]]]]. As if [[StrangledByTheRedString strangling them with that damn red string]] (to say nothing of Viehl's penchant for {{Mary Sue}}s) wasn't ''enough''...

* ''AtlasShrugged's'' DMOS came at the conclusion of Chapter 7, Part II, or Chapter 17 of the entire book. Some asshole politician decides that he would rather have a train go through a tunnel despite it being not safe to do so rather than wait for a safer alternative because it would mean missing his rally. Everyone on board suffocates to death, as the following chapter informs us. You'd think this would be a scene demonstrating a SenselessWasteOfHumanLife, but no. AynRand sinks as low as fucking ''victim blame'' by {{Demonization}} of every passenger on board as fitting one of her Evil Socialist Bad Dude [[TradeSnark â„¢]] character templates. Worst of all, some of those don't look inherently evil, despite the {{Demonization}}. None of the other {{Wall Banger}}s even comes close to the horridness of this scene. (DarthWiki/{{Cliche}})

* The infamous [[RapeIsLove rape-scene]] in [[AynRand Rand's]] ''TheFountainhead'', where [[GodModeSue Howard Roark]] forces himself on Dominique Francon. Now, I'm aware of the various justifications that have been offered for the scene, like "it wasn't really rape" or "she actually wanted it" or that it was "rape by engraved invitation", which might actually be true (though that would open an entirely new can of UnfortunateImplications by itself). But even if you accept that, the scene just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Up until this point in the novel, Roark has shown absolutely zero sexual or romantic interest in ''anyone'', and is also presented as a man of integrity who's a staunch supporter of individual rights and self-determination. And then suddenly, the novel wants us to believe that over the course of a couple of days, by seeing Dominique from a distance at his quarry and doing some repair-work in her house, Roark's sexual instincts arise, he recognizes her as his life's true love (as he never shows any interest in anyone but her throughout the novel), and manages to deduce enough about her psychological make-up from a couple of short meetings to know that she will enjoy being raped. Aside from being extremely impropable, the scene destroys much of Roark's character and makes him a lot less sympathetic. Of note is that the scene isn't an isolated incident; whenever a sex-scene occurs in the novel it's usually described as violent, rough, or "a shocking intimacy that needed no consent from her, no permission", a pattern that repeats itself in ''AtlasShrugged''. Since reading the novel, I have read several analyses where the rape-scene is presented as "an abstract meditation of violence and frigidity" or "a violent, joyful answer to the age-old paradox of what occurs when an immovable object meets an irresistable force" (no, seriously), which I think misses a much simpler explanation: Rand enjoyed rape-fantasies and so she wanted a scene in her novel that expressed that, regardless of whether it made any sense or if it destroyed its characters.

* There's a moment in {{Discworld}}/Maskerade that made me very annoyed. Early in the book, Granny Weatherwax gives a gullible villager a potion that contains the ingredients "Suckrose and Akwa" - Suger and water. It would have been very funny if not long after, the joke is baldfacedly explained to the reader.

* The moment in the ''StarWars'' Novelization of AttackOfTheClones when someone decided that "unit" in the dialogue of ''AttackOfTheClones'' referred to a single trooper rather than, you know, a '''''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_%28military%29 unit]]''''', giving us ridiculously small numbers of troops even for a universe in which SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Where's TimothyZahn [[FixFic when you need him?]]
** Elaborating further: The Star Wars Galaxy has been stated at having well into millions of inhabited worlds. Three million units has been stated in the literature a few times. If "unit" = one soldier, then only three million clone troopers were created over the course of the entire Clone Wars. For comparison, North Korea has an army of eleven million available for service - and it's half an Asian peninsula that's not even in wartime! Even worse? Sources place the droid armies at over a quadrillion, making the clones outnumbered more than three hundred thousand to one!

* In ''TheBelgariad'', the FateWorseThanDeath with which Belgarath punishes Zedar comes across as DisproportionateRetribution of the highest order. Zedar was a PunchClockVillain at worst; some of his acts, such as his involvement with Errand, were necessary for the Prophecy of Light to resolve. And he triggered Belgarath's fury by doing no more than defending himself against a completely unwarranted attack by Durnik.

* The ending of ''It'' is what made this troper stop reading StephenKing forever. If you've read it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't read it, don't.
** To elaborate a bit more on what the above troper said: There is a severe MoralsDissonance going on with underaged kids. The reasoning for it sounds more AuthorAppeal AssPull than anything reasonable or logical.

** [[Tropers/RiL I]] found a [=DMOS=] at the end of ''Son of a Witch'': [[spoiler:after a long, rambling, essentially pointless story, suddenly these two characters have sex! Out of nowhere! With no explanation, leadup, or bearing on the story! ''What?'']] Unfortuately Maguire tends to shoot himself in the foot in just about every story by dropping in something gratuitously and rather pointlessly sexual/scatological seemingly just for the shock factor (like the scene [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment with the tiger]] in ''Wicked''). It is, to paraphrase [[ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]], like eating a delicious meal only to have the chef randomly come out and fart in your face.

* In "Idlewild", when the main character is faced with the fact that [[spoiler: his main love interest is dead]], but has (or will have) access to [[spoiler: "cloning technology"]], he...gives up. Yeah.

** For this troper, the line, "But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood." Whoa, whoa, ''WHOA!'' We are talking about [[spoiler: Lily Potter]], the one character whose HeroicSacrifice was the single most important one in the series, who was supposedly TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, and now we find out that she was perfectly willing to put up with her best friend's FantasticRacism ''as long as it didn't apply directly to her?!'' JKR might think of that as an indicator of [[spoiler: Lily's]] forgiving nature, but to me, it turns her from a well-meaning friend into an all-out bitch. [[spoiler: She and [[JerkAss James]] were perfect for each other.]]
*** If reacting this way to being stabbed in the back by someone you've stood up for even when it cost you makes you an all-out bitch, I suppose the only kinds of people in the world are doormats and all-out bitches.
*** No, the "putting up with her best friend's FantasticRacism ''as long as it didn't apply to her''" part does. She ''knew'' he called Muggleborns "Mudbloods", and he probably called a few of her friends "Mudblood" as well. He was wrong for doing it, but by not ditching him when he refused to stop she became his enabler, and which is worse: Doing or allowing?
*** She didn't put up with his FR, she called him on it before they broke up. The only reason she didn't break up with him earlier was that he was a very lonely and needy former best friend. The part you quoted is her pointing out that his apology was hypocritical.
*** Not to mention [[spoiler:she's supposed to be ''completely selfless'']]. Yup, nothing wrong with this picture at all.
*** I believe the statement in the text was that her sacrifice was selfless, not that she had a selfless personality in general.
*** Uh, no, it was mentioned plenty of times in the books that she was a [[InformedAbility very kind and selfless]] character, which is why they became friends in the first place. Also, now I'm supposed to think that he was a pity friend for the last year of their relationship? ''[[ItGotWorse Not. Helping.]]''

* ''{{Nineteen Eighty Four}}'': [[{{All There in the Manual}} Goldstein's Book]]. Just... [[{{X Just X}} Goldstein's Book]]. One of the most infamous {{Author Filibuster}}s in literature. Now, I personally found this a very fascinating discussion about how totalitarianism can grip any society. But almost every person I spoke to absolutely hated this section--it brings the tense romance story to a screeching halt and has little to do with one of the most chilling fictional scenes in history that happens in a few chapters. Is there any wonder why Orwell engaged in blatant {{Lampshade Hanging}} with Julia falling asleep while Winston read the book? Yeah. Take your place upon the {{Dethroning Moment of Suck}} heap, Goldstein.

* ''StarWars Expanded Universe'': IG-88 takes over the second Death Star. The energy that goes into [[WallBanger banging that wall]] could blow away Alderann

* The moment in the ''StarWars'' Novelization of AttackOfTheClones when someone decided that "unit" in the dialogue of ''AttackOfTheClones'' referred to a single trooper rather than, you know, a '''''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_%28military%29 unit]]''''', giving us ridiculously small numbers of troops even for a universe in which SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale. Where's TimothyZahn [[FixFic when you need him?]]
** Elaborating further: The Star Wars Galaxy has been stated at having well into millions of inhabited worlds. Three million units has been stated in the literature a few times. If "unit" = one soldier, then only three million clone troopers were created over the course of the entire Clone Wars. For comparison, North Korea has an army of eleven million available for service - and it's half an Asian peninsula that's not even in wartime! Even worse? Sources place the droid armies at over a quadrillion, making the clones outnumbered more than three hundred thousand to one!

** Voldemort's speech before he has his big final battle against Harry. I sorry, Rowling, I was under the impression that I'd bought a fantasy novel and not a stammering argument about how Harry Potter isn't a GaryStu. Get to the fucking fight already.