History Main / JerkassDissonance

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying, but it's not necessarily unforgivable conduct, in fiction or in real life. The Dissonance really begins to take strange effect when the character who is the subject of the fandom is engaging in conduct which, in RealLife, would see them comfortably identified as one of [[CompleteMonster history's greatest monsters]]. There's reasons why people such as AdolfHitler, JosefStalin, [[SerialKiller Jeffrey Dahmer and]] [[MonsterClown John Wayne Gacy]] are considered some of the most hated and evil figures in history, but there are certain fictional characters who can do the same as them and more besides, but no matter how far they dive over the MoralEventHorizon someone, somewhere, will be rushing to add it to the CrowningMomentOfAwesome list on this very site.

This phenomenon doesn't relate solely to villains; heroes who commit morally dubious actions can also fall here, since we're ''supposed'' to sympathize with them from the start. However, the hero is supposed to reflect the reader's values more than the villains, which means that we hold our heroes to a higher standard and expect them to live up to it more than the villains, and can be harsher to judge them when they cross the line than we would a villain (who, being the villain, is kind of expected to do that anyway). This can, in extreme cases, lead to instances where a villain appears to be liked more than a hero, even if the villain is a CompleteMonster whom even the hero's worst actions do not compare to. MoralDissonance usually happens when we notice the Jerkass tendencies of a hero, but the other characters don't appear to. WhatTheHellHero occurs when the writers themselves notice and have other characters call the hero out on it.

* EvilIsStylish

This phenomenon doesn't relate solely to villains; heroes who commit morally dubious actions can also fall here, since we're ''supposed'' to sympathize with them from the start. However, the hero is supposed to reflect the reader's values more than the villains, which means that we hold our heroes to a higher standard and expect them to live up to it more than the villains, and can be harsher to judge them when they cross the line than we would a villain (who, being the villain, is kind of expected to do that anyway). This can, in extreme cases, lead to instances where a villain appears to be liked more than a hero, even if the villain is a CompleteMonster whom even the hero's worst actions do not compare to. MoralDissonance usually happens when we notice the Jerkass tendencies of a hero, but the other characters don't appear to. [=~What The Hell, Hero?~=] occurs when the writers themselves notice and have other characters call the hero out on it.

-->-- '''Seto Kaiba''', ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}''

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying, but it's not necessarily unforgivable conduct, in fiction or in real life. The Dissonance really begins to take strange effect when the character who is the subject of the fandom is engaging in conduct which, in RealLife, would see them comfortably identified as one of [[CompleteMonster history's greatest monsters]]. There's reasons why people such as AdolfHitler, JosefStalin, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy are considered some of the most hated and evil figures in history, but there are certain fictional characters who can do the same as them and more besides, but no matter how far they dive over the MoralEventHorizon someone, somewhere, will be rushing to add it to the CrowningMomentOfAwesome list on this very site.

->''HA, now do you understand why so many people love me, even though I'm the biggest dick in this entire show? It's because I'm Seto [[PrecisionFStrike f'rickin]] Kaiba. Accept no substitutes.''
--> -- '''Seto Kaiba''', {{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}

--> -- '''Seto Kaiba''', ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}

# The reader is not affected by the consequences of the actions depicted. Whilst the behaviour of a real life bastard can directly impact on you, in fiction it's happening to someone else, and since they don't really exist it's not really happening to them either. Their behaviour is thus easier to forgive or overlook.

The dissonance can be best summed up thus; where a fictional jerk may possess an intense and devoted fan-base of admirers and may, in-universe, be surrounded by a loyal (if long-suffering) group of friends and followers, in RealLife people considered to be jerks tend to be ostracized, and few choose to willingly associate with them. People in reality are quite intolerant of JerkAss behaviour, particularly when directed towards them or those they care about, and being considered a jerk means that people don't actually like you very much. Just look at the DeadpanSnarker; they say rude, hurtful things to everyone around them, but the viewer eats it up because they're funny. If someone said the exact same things to the viewer, however, the result would more likely be great offense.

* JerkassWoobie: when the populaity of a {{Jerkass}} is directly proportional to his or her own misery.

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying, but it's not necessarily unforgivable conduct, in fiction or in real life. The Dissonance really begins to take strange effect when the character who is the subject of the fandom is engaging in conduct which, in RealLife, would see them comfortably listed alongside [[AdolfHitler That Guy]], Stalin and / or Jeffrey Dahmer among others as one of [[CompleteMonster history's greatest monsters]]. Very few would consider those three or their ilk admirable, but a fictional character can do the same as them and more besides; but no matter how far they dive over the MoralEventHorizon someone, somewhere, will be rushing to add it to the CrowningMomentOfAwesome list on this very site.

# It's said that the villain is usually [[TheLawOfBruce the driving force of the story's conflict]]; the more interesting and dynamic the villain, the more interesting the story. This has the effect that people can gravitate to the villain, especially if the hero is comparatively less interesting.

# In works with a {{Designated Hero}}, the character's behaviour may not actually be any worse than the good guys', leading to a [[FanBacklash backlash among fans]] who don't see why they're considered so bad while the heroes get a more-or-less free pass.

->''HA, now do you understand why so many people love me, even though I'm the biggest dick in this entire show? It's because I'm Seta [[PrecisionFStrike f'rickin]] Kaiba. Accept no substitutes.''

* DracoInLeatherPants

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--> -- Seto Kaiba, YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries

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<<|IndexDissonance|>>
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<<|IndexDissonance|>>

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying, but it's not necessarily unforgivable conduct, in fiction or in real life. The Dissonance really begins to take strange effect when the character who is the subject of the fandom is engaging in conduct which, in RealLife, would see them comfortably listed alongside Hitler, Stalin and / or Jeffrey Dahmer among others as one of [[CompleteMonster history's greatest monsters]]. Very few would consider those three or their ilk admirable, but a fictional character can do the same as them and more besides; but no matter how far they dive over the MoralEventHorizon someone, somewhere, will be rushing to add it to the CrowningMomentOfAwesome list on this very site.

->''HA, now do you understand why so many people love me even though I'm the biggest dick in this entire show? It's because I'm Seta [[PrecisionFStrike f'rickin]] Kaiba. Accept no substitutes.''

# Similarly, the jerkass may be drawn in more detail than the people he's being a jerk to; we learn a lot about [[StarWars Darth Vader]], but [[AMillionIsAStatistic we never meet most of his victims]], so to all intents and purposes they don't ''exist'' in the same way that Darth Vader does for us. Similarly, we tend to find actions they commit against the main characters harder to forgive than actions they commit against minor / background characters, because [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality they're affecting people we care about more.]]

This phenomenon doesn't relate solely to villains; heroes who commit morally dubious actions can also fall here, since we're ''supposed'' to sympathize with them from the start. However, the hero is supposed to reflect the reader's values more than the villains, which means that we hold our heroes to a higher standard and expect them to live up to it more than the villains, and can be harsher to judge them when they cross the line than we would a villain (who, being the villain, is kind of expected to do that anyway). This can, in extreme cases, lead to instances where a villain appears to be liked more than a hero, even if the villain is a CompleteMonster whom even the hero's worst actions do not compare to. MoralDissonance usually happens when we notice the Jerkass tendencies of a hero, but the other characters don't appear to. WhatTheHellHero occurs when the writers themselves notice and have other characters call the hero out on it.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys (an in-universe example, in which the Jerkass character is desired by characters of the opposite gender in spite of or even ''because'' of their overt Jerkass tendencies; many of these characters also go on to be [[DracoInLeatherPants desired by the fans]])

* BastardBoyfriend (another example of a character who is presented in-universe as desirable despite - or because of - his jerkassness)

* ADarkerMe (A real-life, online-based variation; people are often more likely to conduct themselves in ways that they would never dream of -- or dare to -- act in RealLife due to the [[{{GIFT}} anonymity]] of the Internet)

* EnsembleDarkhorse (the 'darker' character tends to become one of these quicker)

* FreudianExcuse (where a lot of this comes from)

* JerkJustifications, if the fans believe them.
* JerkSue (authors who attempt to invoke this dissonance deliberately -- and, usually, do so badly)