History Main / JerkassDissonance

# The Jerkass character [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic may primarily pick on]] [[TakeThatScrappy the character(s) whom no one reading likes anyway.]]

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying or hurtful, 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 history's greatest monsters. There's reasons why people such as UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/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 SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome list on this very site.

Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying or hurtful, 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 history's greatest monsters. There's reasons why people such as UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, UsefulNotes/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.

** In fact, sometimes a more realistic jerk like a JerkJock or an AlphaBitch can be ''more'' hated than an outright villain, because their actions call up things that the audience might have had happened to them, whereas "a guy is trying to TakeOverTheWorld, let's go stop him!" is more abstract.

* RonTheDeathEater: A curious inversion, wherein a typically non-{{Jerkass}} character is twisted in order to be considered one, usually as a result of an attempt to balance a DracoInLeatherPants situation wherein the fandom is downplaying the faults of an actual {{Jerkass}} character who exists in opposition to the former character, or simply because the writer hates the character and wants an excuse to be able to destroy them in the writing.

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Of course, the scale varies. [[DeadpanSnarker Snarky put-downs]] or [[EscalatingWar irritating practical jokes]] might be annoying or hurtful, 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 history's greatest monsters. There's reasons why people such as UsefulNotes/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.

* InsultComic: Some comedians have make a career out of insulting their audiences.

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. For instance, the DeadpanSnarker may sometimes say rude or hurtful things to people around them, but the viewer eats it up because [[RuleOfFunny they're funny]]. If someone said equally rude or hurtful things to the viewer however, chances are good that the viewer wouldn't be quite as amused.

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. For instance, the DeadpanSnarker may sometimes say rude or hurtful things to people around them, but the viewer eats it up because [[RuleOfFunny they're funny]]. If someone said the exact same things to the viewer however, the result wouldn't necessarily be the same.

# Similarly, the {{Jerkass}} may be drawn in more detail than the people he's being a jerk to; we learn a lot about [[Franchise/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]].
# It's said that TheVillainMakesThePlot. That is, the villain is 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.

# ComedicSociopathy plays a part; {{Jerkass}} behaviour is funny... so long as it's happening to someone else.

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

** In fact, sometimes a more realistic jerk like a JerkJock or an AlphaBitch can be ''more'' hated than an outright villain, because their actions call up things that the audience might have had happened to them, whereas "a guy is trying to TakeOverTheWorld, let's go stop him!" is abstract.

* RonTheDeathEater: A curious inversion, wherein a typically non-{{Jerkass}} character is twisted in order to be considered one, usually as a result of an attempt to balance a DracoInLeatherPants situation wherein the fandom is downplaying the faults of an actual {{Jerkass}} character who exists in opposition to the former character.

It seems like in fiction, certain characters can get away with a lot of bad behaviour without losing the loyalty of the audience. Characters who you would ''think'' would be loathed and hated because of their actions can become the objects of the [[MagnificentBastard admiration]] and even [[DracoInLeatherPants lust]] of the audience. Sometimes [[AntiHero intentional]], [[MisaimedFandom often not]], in either case fictional {{Jerkass}}es get a lot of leeway. A principle behind many a MagnificentBastard, DracoInLeatherPants or MisaimedFandom, JerkassDissonance occurs when the audience excuses the behaviour of a fictional character when it would most definitely ''not'' condone similar behaviour in real life.

# The reader is not affected by the consequences of the actions depicted. Whilst the behaviour of a real life bastard can have a direct 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 Jerkass character [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic may primarily pick on]] [[TakeThatScrappy the character(s) who no one reading likes anyway.]]

* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist

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 history's greatest monsters. There's reasons why people such as UsefulNotes/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.

# The Jerkass character [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic picks on]] [[TakeThatScrappy the scrappy.]]

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 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.

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. For instance, the DeadpanSnarker may sometimes say rude or hurtful things to people around them, but the viewer eats it up because [[RuleOfFunny they're funny]]. If someone said the exact same things to the viewer, however, the result wouldn't necessarily be the same.

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 [[RuleOfFunny they're funny]]. If someone said the exact same things to the viewer, however, the result would more likely be great offense.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Where a [[FreudianExcuse tragic backstory]] or noble enough ideals completely balances out any of their villainous actions.

* RefugeInAudacity

It seems like in fiction, certain characters can get away with a lot of bad behaviour without losing the loyalty of the audience. Characters who you would ''think'' would be loathed and hated because of their actions can become the objects of the [[MagnificentBastard admiration]] and even [[DracoInLeatherPants lust]] of the audience. Sometimes [[AntiHero intentional]], [[MisaimedFandom often not]], in either case fictional {{Jerk Ass}}es get a lot of leeway. A principle behind many a MagnificentBastard, DracoInLeatherPants or MisaimedFandom, JerkassDissonance occurs when the audience excuses the behaviour of a fictional character when it would most definitely ''not'' condone similar behaviour in real life.

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 [[RuleOfFunny they're funny]]. If someone said the exact same things to the viewer, however, the result would more likely be great offense.

# 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 hero's worst actions do not compare to the villain's. 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.

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

->''"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 frickin' Kaiba. Accept no substitutes."''

->''"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."''