History Main / TroubledSympatheticBigot

* In a weird example, Vimes from ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is ''treated'' like one, but it's a mostly informed characteristic -- he never actually says anything especially racist. Of course, since he thinks equally badly of all Discworld species, he probably doesn't exactly qualify as "bigoted" anyway, and is more of a Troubled Sympathetic ''Misanthrope''. He loves the city and will fight like hell to keep it in order, but he doesn't think well of the actual people. Discworld/{{Thud}} showcases Vimes's internal conflicts best, but most of the City Watch books are driven by Vimes's fight to protect and serve a bunch of assholes he doesn't care about.
** It's clearer in Discworld/MenAtArms, when the Watch gets a troll, a dwarf, and a werewolf as new recruits. From there on, it gets a passing mention as he reflects that more non-humans are entering the Watch and comes in really strong in Discworld/{{Thud}} when he's forced to take on a vampire.
** With regards to vampires Vimes is certainly a bigot, and refuses to permit any into the watch until forced by Vetinari. He is shown in ''Discworld/MenAtArms'' to hate vampires because of their stereotypical links to aristocracy. The latest book ''Discworld/{{Snuff}}'' deals very heavily with the idea of prejudice (particularly towards Goblins who are not considered citizens and ergo, have no rights even when they're the victims of murder) and shows Vimes to have grown quite philosophical about his earlier prejudices. His comments about another character finding redemption through his treating all thinking beings as equals say a lot about his CharacterDevelopment.

* ComicBook/{{Magneto}} of the MarvelUniverse has been very different characters under different authors. In some versions he was this trope, both as a villain and as a reluctant hero.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'''s Weiss distrusts all [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]] and outright hates the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters White Fang]], a Faunus rights group. This is mostly because the White Fang have been at war with her family for years. She accepts [[spoiler:Blake]] (a former member of the White Fang) as a teammate after several days, but still struggles to respect Faunus when extenuating circumstances don't force her to do so.

* From ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' is Machias Regnitz, a commoner who assumes all nobles are pompous and elitist snobs at the start of the first game. His backstory reveals the reason he despises the nobility is because [[spoiler:his cousin fell in love with a noble, but that the man's family didn't approve of their marriage because she was a commoner, and started harassing her so they would call it off. She was eventually DrivenToSuicide as a result of the harassment she endured]]. After revealing his past to some of his classmates, he admits his hatred towards the nobility was blind prejudice, with him admitting he needed something to lash out at in response to [[spoiler:his cousin's death]]. His CharacterDevelopment throughout the games involves him abandoning his prejudice towards the nobility.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' Claudus is a [[FollowInMyFootsteps stern]] father to Lion-O, a very narrow-minded king who genuinely believes cats are ''the'' SuperiorSpecies. He believes his people's FantasticRacism is justified. Despite all his flaws, deep down he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who only wants what's best for his people and his son.

* King Uther from ''Series/{{Merlin}}''. He hates all magic because [[BalancingDeathsBooks of his wife's death]], and genuinely believes that he's doing what's right when he commits genocide against those that practice magic. He's also a {{Hypocrite}} considering he seeks out magical help when he's really desperate (thus indicating that he knows magic can be used for ''good''), and ultimately his actions cause his illegitimate daughter to turn against him, something that drives him to his death.

* Pierce Hawthorne on ''Series/{{Community}}'' can come across as this. Pierce's inappropriateness, overzealous creativity, and pathological need to be accepted at all cost are all rooted in frustrations getting attention from his father and his fear that his age is now isolating himself from the rest of the study group.

** With regards to vampires Vimes is certainly a bigot, and refuses to permit any into the watch until forced by Vetinari. He is shown in ''Men at Arms'' to hate vampires because of their stereotypical links to aristocracy. The latest book ''Snuff'' deals very heavily with the idea of prejudice (particularly towards Goblins who are not considered citizens and ergo, have no rights even when they're the victims of murder) and shows Vimes to have grown quite philosophical about his earlier prejudices. His comments about another character finding redemption through his treating all thinking beings as equals say a lot about his CharacterDevelopment.

Sometimes a KnightTemplar, HeteronormativeCrusader or WindmillCrusader can be a Troubled Sympathetic Bigot at heart. A HeManWomanHater is rarely this, while it's far more common in a woman who DoesNotLikeMen -- sometimes with a cheesy justification. Nearly all [[TragicBigot Tragic Bigots]] are likely to also be this, but the same does not apply in reverse. All of these characters are likely to suffer from InternalizedCategorism or be recovering from BlackAndWhiteInsanity. A PoliticallyIncorrectVillain who makes a HeelFaceTurn may have a transition period as a Troubled Sympathetic Bigot.

* In ''ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' Prior Philip, one of the main protagonists, causes many troubles to the other protagonists because of this trope. The worst part is him forcing Jack to become a monk when he is really not fit to be one.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': "Gem Harvest" has Steven meeting Greg's cousin Andy, a cantankerous conservative stereotype who's initial reaction to the Gems is to angrily dismiss them as a bunch of "illegal immigrant Martian hippies" ([[JerkassHasAPoint to be fair]], two of them had moved into family property and rearranged the place without his say-so). Turns out most of his hostility is because [[spoiler: after Greg left home, the rest of his family drifted apart, and he was too set in his ways to reach out to them]], and he eventually warms up to the Gems, and to the nephew he never knew he had in Steven.

* ''Film/EasyA'': Marianne seem to suffer worse from her own actions then it hurts Olive, and it's not from some kind of retributive Karma either. She seem to mean well, but be ''horribly'' misguided.

->''Accept them? How can I accept them? Can I deny everything I believe in? On the other hand, can I deny my own daughter? On the other hand, how can I turn my back on my faith, my people? If I try and bend that far, I'll break. On the other hand... No! There is no other hand!''

* This is Severus Snape's backstory in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. In his youth, he resented his abusive Muggle father and, by extension, Muggles and Muggle-born wizards and witches in general. The situation got worse when Snape became an outcast at Hogwarts; the only kids who accepted him were a group of even worse bigots who would eventually grow up to join [[BigBad Lord Voldemort's]] Death Eaters (as would Snape). Snape's bigotry drove a wedge between him and his Muggle-born friend [[spoiler:Lily Evans]], but he didn't see the light until [[spoiler:his boss Voldemort murdered Lily. After this, Snape became a spy for Dumbledore and abandoned his old bigotry out of respect for Lily, the only person he ever loved.]]

* This is Severus Snape's backstory in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books. In his youth, he resented his abusive Muggle father and, by extension, Muggles and Muggle-born wizards and witches in general. The situation got worse when Snape became an outcast at Hogwarts; the only kids who accepted him were a group of even worse bigots who would eventually grow up to join [[BigBad Lord Voldemort's]] Death Eaters (as would Snape). Snape's bigotry drove a wedge between him and his Muggle-born friend [[spoiler:Lily Evans]], but he didn't see the light until [[spoiler:his boss Voldemort murdered Lily. After this, Snape became a ReverseMole for [[BigGood Dumbledore]] and abandoned his old bigotry out of respect for the only person he ever loved.]]

** With regards to vampires Vimes is certainly a bigot, and refuses to permit any into the watch until forced by Vetinari. He is shown in ''Men at Arms'' to hate vampires because of their stereotypical links to aristocracy. The latest book ''Snuff'' deals very heavily with the idea of prejudice (particularly towards Goblins who are not considered citizens and ergo, have no rights even when they're the victims or murder) and shows Vimes to have grown quite philosophical about his earlier prejudices. His comments about another character finding redemption through his treating all thinking beings as equals say a lot about his CharacterDevelopment.

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* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Inspector Javert [[ByTheBookCop starts out as a regular lawman]], but is gradually shown to suffer from BlackAndWhiteInsanity. In the end, he's quite sympathetic as he struggles with his worldview.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Logicomix}}'', Ferge is totally honest and devoted to truth and logic. Sadly, this devotion combined with IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance leads to BlackAndWhiteInsanity in the form of a StrawVulcan despising of women and Jews. On the whole, this makes him a Troubled Sympathetic Bigot who is desperately trying to do the right thing.

** They probably honestly believe that their daughter will burn in hell for not being mainstream. And thus they are, in a way, in hell themselves...

* At the end of ''Film/DoTheRightThing'', the Itallian characters express hatred toward blacks when [[spoiler: they burn down their restaurant in a riot]]. Made all the more tragic by the fact they were friends with many of the African Americans who were rioting.

* In ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'', Tevye is constantly struggling with his belief in tradition versus his three daughters' yearning for liberation. He manages to accept the first two of them (who want to chose their own husbands, but within their own religion), but draws the line with the third (who falls in love with a Christian and converts in order to marry him).

* In ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'', Tevye is constantly struggling with his belief in tradition versus his three daughters' yearning for liberation. He manages to accept the first two of them (who want to chose their own husbands, but within their own religion), but draws the line with the third (who falls in love with a Christian).
** In fairness, this isn't so much a case of bigotry, as Tevye's devotion to his faith and to God. In marrying the (admittedly sympathetic) Christian boy, his daughter is choosing love over her faith.

* HuckleberryFinn's [[RousseauWasRight fundamental goodness]] eventually wins out over his ingrained racism, and he decides to help fugitive slave Jim escape, despite doing so being entirely contrary to what he thought of as moral: ''[[YouAreWorthHell All right then, I'll go to Hell]]''.

** In fairness, this isn't so much a case of bigotry, as Tevye devotion to his faith and to God. In marrying the (admittedly sympathetic) Christian boy, his daughter is choosing love over her faith.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' Claudus is a [[FollowInMyFootsteps stern]] father to Lion-O, a very narrow-minded king whom genuinely believes the cats are ''the'' SuperiorSpecies. He believes his people's FantasticRacism is justified. Despite all his flaws, deep down he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who only wants what's best for his people and his son.