History Main / CharacterCheck

-->-- '''Spike''', ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', making a heartfelt plea to his scriptwriters

* Spike in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a lot of these, with the most jarring and noticeable being the [[spoiler:attempted rape of Buffy in Season 6]]. Only slightly less subtle was the scene in which he [[spoiler:plays poker with other demons for kittens]].

* [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] and Selina Kyle have been [[DatingCatwoman engaging in a hot and steamy affair for a while]], and it has even reached the point that [[SecretKeeper he trusts her with]] his SecretIdentity and she helps out fighting Gotham's criminal element. Several issues have shown her ''still acting like a criminal'' as a message to Bruce that she isn't a member of his "little club", and never really will be.

* Lionel Luthor of ''{{Smallville}}'' started out as the TropeNamer for the MagnificentBastard. He was cruel, manipulative, and gloriously evil. In Season 5, he started acting like a good guy for no apparent reason. In Season 6 the writers wanted to "slap [the audience] in the face" with a reminder of who he used to be, so they had him blackmail Lana into marrying Lex. Then, sad to say, he went back to being a good guy.
** No reason? I'm pretty sure becoming the "Oracle" of Jor-El for a while had something to do with it.

A CharacterCheck is when the writer realizes character is no longer behaving the way he or she was first portrayed, and tries to cover it up by throwing in a scene in which the character ostentatiously reverts to form. Related to AuthorsSavingThrow, but a CharacterCheck seldom leads to any lasting change and is not necessarily popular with the fans, who may have become attached to the "new" version of the character and dislike the brief resurgence of the old one.

* Spike in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a lot of these, with the most jarring and noticeable being the attempted rape of Buffy in Season 6. Only slightly less subtle was the scene in which he plays poker with other demons for kittens.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'', many characters had drifted to being more serious, as the events of Act 5 became very stressful and worrisome. This meant characters were less prone to cracking jokes, and more prone to simple kindness, depression, anger, etc. After a year TimeSkip in Act 6 however, they have been shown to act more similarly to their original characterization, with their new characterization still lingering however. The most notable characters this has occurred with are John, Dave, and Karkat, though it has occurred with everyone affected by the TimeSkip to some extent, with exception to Terezi.

* In ''{{Marathon}} 2'', Durandal was far less of a nutjob than the first game. Still, he does briefly stop to remind you that "If you [[TakeYourTime insist on stumbling around when our time here is limited]], I may just decide that you're not all that special after all and [[ThrownOutTheAirlock teleport you out into space]]. Probably justified in that he was going through the early stages of Rampancy in the first game (which includes a "psychotic anger" phase), and by the second game has calmed down and stabilized a great deal.

* In Fanfic/MyImmortal, Dumbledore, (who introduces himself by yelling "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU MOTHERFUKERS!"), is shown "crying wisely" while delivering the news of Draco's suicide, [[LampshadeHanging with the author asking readers if that is out of character for him]].
* In Fanfic/NarutoVeanganceRevelaitons, Sakura quickly goes from a FauxActionGirl who is [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by]] the GodModeSue main character to someone who exists mainly as Ronan's docile and submissive sex partner, who needs his help to get up whenever she falls. However, [[spoiler:once Ronan is killed for the second time]], she goes into an UnstoppableRage and [[CurbStompBattle beats]] [[DarkChick Taliana]] into submission, but this is quickly followed by her [[spoiler:reviving Ronan by [[IntimateHealing sucking on his penis.]]]]

->''"Can't any one of your damned little Scooby club at least ''try'' to remember that I '''''hate''' you all''?"''

->-- '''Spike''', making a heartfelt plea to his scriptwriters, ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

Very common with [[DesignatedVillain Designated Villains]] or JerkAss characters who have moved into JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory; this sort of reminder of "how things used to be" is a frequent side effect of BadassDecay and VillainDecay. Also likely to result from DependingOnTheWriter. There is also a certain amount of TruthInTelevision here. Someone may have [[CharacterDevelopment changed over time]], but still fall back on old habits now and again. However, [[RealityIsUnrealistic fictional characters are usually expected to behave more consistently]].

* In M*A*S*H, the whole Margaret arc. She went from Hot Lips to Margaret. At first there was some homage paid to Hot Lips, then the writers just gave up.

* In Fanfic/NarutoVeanganceRevelaitons, Sakura quickly goes from a FauxActionGirl who is [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by]] the GodModeSue main character to someone who exists mainly as Ronan's docile and submissive sex partner, who needs his help to get up whenever she falls. However, [[spoiler:once Ronan is killed for the second time]], she goes into an UnstoppableRage and [[CurbStompBattle beats]] [[DarkChick Taliana]] into submission, but this is quickly followed by [[spoiler:reviving Ronan by way of [[IntimateHealing sucking on his penis.]]

[[AC:{{Live Action TV}}]]

* In ''{{Marathon}} 2'', Durandal was far less of a nutjob than the first game. Still, he does briefly stop to remind you that "If you [[TakeYourTime insist on stumbling around when our time here is limited]], I may just decide that you're not all that special after all and [[ThrownOutTheAirlock teleport you out into space]].

You introduced a character on your show with [[EstablishingCharacterMoment a certain characterization]]. But lately he's been [[CharacterDerailment drifting off the rails]], and you suddenly notice that the character you established originally [[CharacterizationMarchesOn bears only the faintest resemblance to the one you've got now]], with no real [[JustifiedTrope justification]] for the change. You don't particularly want to change the show's dynamic, but you feel guilty about the inconsistency. What do you do? Give him a CharacterCheck.

Very common with [[DesignatedVillain Designated Villains]] or JerkAss characters who have moved into JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory; the appearance of [[CharacterCheck this sorts of reminder of "how things used to be"]] is a frequent side effect of BadassDecay and VillainDecay. Also likely to result from DependingOnTheWriter. There is also a certain amount of TruthInTelevision here. Someone may have [[CharacterDevelopment changed over time]], but still fall back on old habits now and again. However, [[RealityIsUnrealistic fictional characters are usually expected to behave more consistently]].)

Very common with [[DesignatedVillain DesignatedVillains]] or JerkAss characters who have moved into JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory; the appearance of [[CharacterCheck this sorts of reminder of "how things used to be"]] is a frequent side effect of BadassDecay and VillainDecay. Also likely to result from DependingOnTheWriter. There is also a certain amount of TruthInTelevision here. Someone may have [[CharacterDevelopment changed over time]], but still fall back on old habits now and again. However, [[RealityIsUnrealistic fictional characters are usually expected to behave more consistently]].)

You introduced a character on your show with [[EstablishingCharacterMoment a certain characterization]]. But lately he's been [[CharacterDerailment drifting off the rails]], and you suddenly notice that the character you established originally bears only the faintest resemblance to the one you've got now, with no real [[JustifiedTrope justification]] for the change. You don't particularly want to change the show's dynamic, but you feel guilty about the inconsistency. What do you do? Give him a CharacterCheck.

** I [[WildMassGuessing always thought]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation he was faking it the entire time]] and was just trying to maintain that image. A sort of in-story [[InvokedTrope invocation]] of this trope.
* The {{Disgaea}} series has a few of these. A couple notable examples:
** The [[spoiler: Human World]] ending in Disgaea 1 has Laharl revert to acting like a spoiled demon prince [[spoiler: after taking over the earth]].
*** Laharl also gets one of these whenever he shows up in another game.
** The [[spoiler:Normal]] ending of Disgaea 3. After beating [[spoiler: Super Hero Aurum]] the final boss, Mao decides to keep him in his room so he can experiments on [[spoiler: Aurum]]'s immortal body.

You introduced a character on your show with [[EstablishingCharacterMoment a certain characterization]]. But lately she's been [[CharacterDerailment drifting off the rails]], and you suddenly notice that the character you established originally bears only the faintest resemblance to the one you've got now, with no real [[JustifiedTrope justification]] for the change. You don't particularly want to change the show's dynamic, but you feel guilty about the inconsistency. What do you do? Give him a CharacterCheck.

-->-- '''Spike''', making a heartfelt plea to his scriptwriters, ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* Sawyer from ''{{Lost}}'' started out as the resident JerkAss with occasional glimpses of a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold heart of gold]] as Season 1 progressed, and midway through Season 2 he was moving to outright heroism, but he still had occasional moments where he would remind everyone that he was a jerk, most notably in the episode "The Long Con" in which he performed an elaborate con to get posession of the castaways' guns. Charlie asks Sawyer why he did it, and his response is that he's "not a good person. Never did a good thing in my life." This happens with Sawyer throughout the newer seasons as well, mostly because the writers can't sem to keep Sawyer in outright JerkAss territory due to the fact that he's one of the most popular characters.

* Spike in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a lot of these, with the most jarring and noticeable being the attempted rape of Buffy in Season 6.

* Sylar in ''{{Heroes}}'' was prone to these in Season 3, as the writers veered erratically between portraying him as TheWoobie and remembering, "Oh, yeah, this guy was a ''psychotic serial killer'' in Seasons 1 and 2." The utterly gratuitous murder of Elle was a case in point.