History Main / UnintentionallyUnsympathetic

In fact, victim characters[[note]]A regular, intentional victim, not an AssholeVictim.[[/note]] (who are poorly written) in general can become unintentionally unsympathetic just as much as villain characters. This is especially the case if they act like a major {{Jerkass}} or SpoiledBrat the entire time but the narrative tries to paint them as a "poor little sweetheart". Also, the audience may find it hard to sympathize with a character who is TooDumbToLive or grabs an IdiotBall and decides to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu taunt Cthulhu]] or [[BullyingADragon bully a dragon]] (especially if the said monster was just minding its own business and wouldn't have done anything had the victim minded their own business). Furthermore, audiences will not likely sympathize with a character who acts like TheLoad, TheMillstone, DamselInDistress, DistressedDude, DesignatedVictim, or the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom if they make life ''needlessly'' harder for the other characters while being painted as "victims" or "innocent" bystanders by the narrative. The audience might see them as a DamselScrappy instead.

** Rhodes from Cinder's flashback in Volume 8 is supposed to be a well-intentioned, if not heroic GoodSamaritan who took it upon himself to train young Cinder to be a huntress so she could escape her slavery at the hands of her guardian, only to turn on her when she kills said guardian and her adopted sisters. However, [[TooDumbToLive it seems extremely irresponsible and reckless of him]] to train a girl he knew - at least originally - had murderous intentions, and this is compounded when he doesn't try to calm Cinder down when he finds her standing over the corpses of her [[AssholeVictim tormentors]]. FridgeLogic makes him seem downright amoral, too, because he'd found a ten year-old who was enslaved and [[ElectricTorture physically tortured]] by her guardians, but [[SocialServicesDoesNotExist did not think to contact the police or social services]]. Even if Cinder's treatment was somehow legal in Atlas (despite the kingdoms generally being portrayed as having western-like human rights laws, at least on paper), [[JustEatGilligan he could have easily taken her away to a better family or orphanage]] instead of making her put up with seven years of hell while he trained her, making his death seem almost as much his fault as Cinder's.

In fact, victim characters in general can become unintentionally unsympathetic just as much as villain characters. This is especially the case if they act like a major {{Jerkass}} or SpoiledBrat the entire time but the narrative tries to paint them as a "poor little sweetheart". Also, the audience may find it hard to sympathize with a character who is TooDumbToLive or grabs an IdiotBall and decides to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu taunt Cthulhu]] or [[BullyingADragon bully a dragon]] (especially if the said monster was just minding its own business and wouldn't have done anything had the victim minded their own business). Furthermore, audiences will not likely sympathize with a character who acts like TheLoad, TheMillstone, DamselInDistress, DistressedDude, DesignatedVictim, or the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom if they make life ''needlessly'' harder for the other characters while being painted as "victims" or "innocent" bystanders by the narrative. The audience might see them as a DamselScrappy instead.

* Calvin's parents in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' are this. ParentsAsPeople is in full effect here (perhaps a [[GoneHorriblyRight little too much so]]), and Calvin is a BrattyHalfPint, but his own parents were hardly ever seen interacting with him in a loving way or trying to understand him, even though many 21st century readers see Calvin as having, at the very least, an AmbiguousDisorder. There are also several strips where they act like they downright hate or neglect Calvin and consider themselves martyrs for having to put up with him, like when his mother threw Calvin out hours before the school bus arrives so she can get a morning free, or when his father said he'd would rather have raised a dog and considered throwing Calvin into the alligator pit at the zoo. Some strips have them guilt-trip Calvin for giving him food, clothing and shelter -- things they're ''legally obligated'' to provide him with as his parents, making it look like a textbook case of [[WantsAPrizeForBasicDecency expecting praise just for doing what they're supposed to be doing]], an attitude [[DoubleStandard the strip unambiguously condemns whenever Calvin expresses it]]. There are ''some'' tender moments between Calvin and his parents, but they are few and far between. It would get so bad that Bill Watterson had to address it in a commentary, where he expressed regret that Calvin's parents were mostly seen when they were in a bad mood, but Watterson has also claimed that "they did better than [he] would've" with regards to Calvin. Which tells you a lot...

* [[VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin The Girlfriend]] in ''WebAnimation/FridayNightFunkinWithLyrics'' is horrified when she learns that the Boyfriend was planning to get her demonic father exercized. The issue is that the Boyfriend wanted to do this because her father was making repeated attempts on his life, something she knows full well. What's more, by the time she finds this out, she met three of her parents' victims, [[AndIMustScream the Spirit]], [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Whitty]], and [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Garcello]], people whose lives were ruined thanks to her family, and the first one was her ex. Father or not, there's no excuse for her to see Boyfriend in the wrong. It gets worse when you remember she callously covered up the Spirit's fate and is implied to be after the Boyfriend's soul.

In fact, victim characters in general can become unintentionally unsympathetic just as much as villain characters. This is especially the case if they act like a major {{Jerkass}} the entire time but the narrative tries to paint them as a "poor little sweetheart". Also, the audience may find it hard to sympathize with a character who is TooDumbToLive or grabs an IdiotBall and decides to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu taunt Cthulhu]] or [[BullyingADragon bully a dragon]] (especially if the said monster was just minding its own business and wouldn't have done anything had the victim minded their own business). Furthermore, audiences will not likely sympathize with a character who acts like TheLoad, TheMillstone, DamselInDistress, DistressedDude, DesignatedVictim, or the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom if they make life ''needlessly'' harder for the other characters while being painted as "victims" or "innocent" bystanders by the narrative. The audience might see them as a DamselScrappy instead.

In fact, victim characters in general can become unintentionally sympathetic just as much as villain characters. This is especially the case if they act like a major {{Jerkass}} the entire time but the narrative tries to paint them as a "poor little sweetheart". Also, the audience may find it hard to sympathize with a character who is TooDumbToLive or grabs an IdiotBall and decides to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu taunt Cthulhu]] or [[BullyingADragon bully a dragon]] (especially if the said monster was just minding its own business and wouldn't have done anything had the victim minded their own business). Furthermore, audiences will not likely sympathize with a character who acts like TheLoad, TheMillstone, DamselInDistress, DistressedDude, DesignatedVictim, or the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom if they make life ''needlessly'' harder for the other characters while being painted as "victims" or "innocent" bystanders by the narrative. The audience might see them as a DamselScrappy instead.

In fact, victim characters in general can become unintentionally sympathetic just as much as villain characters. This is especially the case if they act like a major {{Jerkass}} the entire time but the narrative tries to paint them as a "poor little sweetheart". Also, the audience may find it hard to sympathize with a character who is TooDumbToLive or grabs an IdiotBall and decides to [[DoNotTauntCthulhu taunt Cthulhu]] or [[BullyingADragon bully a dragon]] (especially if the said monster was just minding its own business and wouldn't' have done anything had the victim minded their own business). Furthermore, audiences will not likely sympathize with a character who acts like TheLoad, TheMillstone, DamselInDistress, DistressedDude, DesignatedVictim, or the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom if they make life ''needlessly'' harder for the other characters while being painted as "victims" or "innocent" bystanders by the narrative. The audience might see them as a DamselScrappy instead.

Often a problem with TheScrappy, the DesignatedHero, or a badly done JerkassWoobie. Even a regular [[TheWoobie Woobie]] character can fall victim to this if they are [[{{Wangst}} overly whiny]] or [[DramaQueen overly dramatic]] (essentially acting more like a SpoiledBrat throwing a temper tantrum than a ''real'' victim you can actually sympathize with). Can also overlap with a DamselScrappy.

* joshscorcher's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3dUqlI5Ba4 Top Ten Hated Characters We're Supposed To Like]] has ten characters that the uploader hates even though they were supposed to be liked, plus several honorable examples, some of which can be found on the Video Games page for this trope. It also discusses the trope, saying that many great villains have no sympathetic qualities whatsoever, but these are characters that did not come off as likeable as the creators intended.

* ''WebOriginal/HistoryOfPowerRangers'': While also providing the page quote, Linkara also has an inverse view of mutantkind and Time Force compared with some of the fandom he was given. He thought that despite Ransik's sympathetic origin, his consistant evil and ingratitude justifies everyone's fears about him. And conversely, there isn't enough provided material in the show to fully have sympathetic mutants, as only 1 mutant ever had more sympathetic reasons for being in the cryo-prison, and there were even 2 examples of mutants who were given more privileges, and they betrayed society's trust.

* Gnarly Pop Production's ''Life Love And Lady Wrestling'' decided to have Wrestling/MercedesMartinez defend the Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Championship belt as a {{heel}}, given Martinez was a heel in SHIMMER. The problem? Her challenger was Jessicka Havok, who is [[NominalHero hard enough]] to a make a baby {{face}} as is, but was most famous for a program with Martinez in Wrestling/{{WSU}}, where Havok made racists remarks about people like Martinez, beat Martinez into hospitalization, disrespected an area of worship associated with Martinez's religion and got Brittney Savage to [[EvenEvilHasStandards forfeit a match]] by threatening to kill Martinez with a machete. Despite having an extra segment early in the show to establish Martinez has a heel, to try and get as much sympathy for Havok as possible. Despite Martinez working in one of the most crowd unpleasing manners she ever had, the most vocal parts of the crowd still wound up cheering for Martinez whenever she connect with any remotely effective offense or when Havok seemed close to winning.

It's an ''especially'' easy trap to fall into for villains: sometimes, a villain is meant to be seen as a more morally gray or a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, but their FreudianExcuse just doesn't cover the acts they go on to commit. For example, if the heroes bought the villain’s narrative that their little sister died in that [[ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding building a superhero battle knocked over]], thus somehow causing them to try to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the hero's entire planet]], that would make them unsympathetic to the audience, despite the narrative claiming the villain as such. (However, if the [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse heroes throw that excuse back at the villain]] and treat them as a selfish monster, they are not ''unintentionally'' unsympathetic.)

It's an ''especially'' easy trap to fall into for villains: sometimes, a villain is meant to be seen as a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, but their FreudianExcuse just doesn't cover the acts they go on to commit. For example, if the heroes bought the villain’s narrative that their little sister died in that [[ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding building a superhero battle knocked over]], thus somehow causing them to try to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the hero's entire planet]], that would make them unsympathetic to the audience, despite the narrative claiming the villain as such. (However, if the [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse heroes throw that excuse back at the villain]] and treat them as a selfish monster, they are not ''unintentionally'' unsympathetic.)

It's an ''especially'' easy trap to fall into for villains: sometimes, a villain is meant to be seen as more morally gray, but their FreudianExcuse just doesn't cover the acts they go on to commit. For example, if the heroes bought the villain’s narrative that their little sister died in that [[ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding building a superhero battle knocked over]], thus somehow causing them to try to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the hero's entire planet]], that would make them unsympathetic to the audience, despite the narrative claiming the villain as such. However, if the [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse heroes throw that excuse back at the villain]], they are not ''unintentionally'' unsympathetic.

* The entire MageSpecies of ''TabletopGame/WitchGirlsAdventures'', partially courtesy of some really badly handled BlackComedy and transformation-based fetishes, mostly because the game literally portrays Witches as selfish, cruel {{Reality Warper}}s who are outright ''encouraged'' to bully {{muggle}}s so long as they don't break the very few rules their society places on them. When the "heroes" of the setting do things like [[BalefulPolymorph turn people into food and drink to consume them]] because it's ''more convenient'' than getting normal food, or [[AndIMustScream turn people into sapient but immobile clothes, jewelry or other objects]], or even straight-up ''disintegrate them'' just for laughs... well, the Malleus Maleficarum's viewpoint that you need a FinalSolution to protect humanity from them looks like a perfectly sane response.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* A number of characters in ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'':
** Rotor was introduced by Atton Rand in an attempt to undo his earlier {{Demonization}} of realists with a sympathetic realist character. At first, Rotor wasn't so bad. Even when he made it clear that he was willing to exploit Kate Bishop as a means to getting to Wallace Bishop, who seemed to be the most dangerous enemy on the island at the time, it was an understandably realist outlook on being willing to do what must be done. And then, he's scolding his T-1 Typhoon crew for not being willing to do what must be done; okay, fair enough, Greybeard's done it before... wait a second, is he ordering his own men to be ''executed by firing squad'' by means of KangarooCourt? And now he's torturing prisoners, with a heavy dose of subtext that he doesn't even believe that they have the info he seeks; he might just be doing it ForTheEvulz? We're supposed to ''like'' this guy? He's no better than any of the previous realists Atton Rand introduced! Fortunately, Rotor finally regained some sympathy when he started to clean up his act. That, and the fact that the two following Unintentionally Unsympathetic characters were introduced and made ''him'' look sympathetic in comparison...
** Atton Rand had, to a certain extent, intended Trigger to be a sort of SpiritualSuccessor to Dust, inspired by his popularity to attempt to write an anti-hero of his own. Unfortunately he had the opposite reception which Atton had intended. He did attempt to salvage some dignity by at least giving Trigger a memorable [[spoiler:death scene]], but whether that succeeded is debatable.
** Snake is a similar deal, as like his namesake he was intended to be likeable despite being an uncaring anti-hero. This backfired horrendously, especially when he was meant to look honorable in comparison to Plastic Serpent, who, to add insult to injury, became UnintentionallySympathetic instead.
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Taken UpToEleven in "[[Franchise/{{Shrek}} Shrek's]] Coma", wherein the audience is supposed to feel bad for Rosalina when Mario kicks her out of the house for finding Shrek's new body attractive and think that Mario is overreacting. While something similar did happen in "Jeffy's Parents", that was more justified as Mario and Rosalina both knew what kind of monster [[spoiler:Nancy]] was, [[WhatTheHellHero so it made sense why she'd be pissed at him in that video]]. However, considering Rosalina has ALWAYS put both herself and Jeffy before Mario's needs, has gotten him into trouble many times, and in general been a gigantic Jerkass, this makes Mario's break up with her more satisfying than heartbreaking, and it also makes her look like a hypocrite (So Mario looking at porn in "Jeffy's New Toy" is cheating according to Rosalina, but admiring other guys right next to the guy your dating isn't?) But no, in the end, Mario has to apologize to a woman who has almost never done anything nice for him in return.

Just like with CursedWithAwesome, it can be hard to dredge up sad feelings for a character whose life is in every respect more glamorous (or at very least, more interesting) than the audience members'. True unintentional unsympathy is generally reserved for [[AcceptableTargets unpopular traits]] like being overweight or a nerd, both of which tend to be grossly exaggerated on television (see HollywoodPudgy and HollywoodNerd) and usually have nothing to do with anyone who might have such problems.

** ''UnintentionallyUnsympathetic/Danganronpa''