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Jerkass / Marvel Universe

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Marvel Universe

  • Deadpool: Deadpool can be a huge jerkass at times. Especially when it comes to blind Al, Weasel and Bob.
  • Fantastic Four: Reed Richards wanders in and out of this trope Depending on the Writer.
  • S.H.I.E.L.D.: Nick Fury is this trope, wavering between it and Jerk with a Heart of Gold, although he tends to channel his Jerkass behavior at appropriate times, and generally is a Cool Old Guy.
  • Spider-Man: Depending on the Writer, J. Jonah Jameson is either this or a Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He wastes no opportunity to fabricate stories falsely accusing Spider-Man of being a criminal in spite of all the good he's done for the city, but he will sometimes be portrayed with redeeming qualities.
    • In The Amazing Spider-Man (Lee & Ditko) #6, Peter had just been hired and Jameson had decided to treat Spider-Man like a criminal. When everybody leaves, Peter asks Jameson "How do you know he's a criminal?" and Jameson replies "I don't. I could just as easily send good press his way. Why don't I? This will sell more papers." Twenty years later, he has a nervous breakdown. Why? He didn't unmask Spidey when he had the chance. Complete. Total. Jerkass.
  • Sub-Mariner: Namor consistently treats everyone he knows as inferior to him, often engages in hypocritical rebukes of others, and won't stop trying to get into Sue Storm's pants, marriage be damned. And those are the days he isn't hobnobbing with despots like Osborn or Doom or sending giant tidal waves to drown New York City. Even when he is actually doing something for someone other than himself, you can guarantee he'll be a self-congratulating, entitled dick about it. The only people he's shown being genuinely nice to are old friends from the Invaders, Captain America (because being a Jerkass to him truly puts one in their own league) and Bucky (likely due to the guy's Trauma Conga Line), where he makes a half-ass attempt to keep up a jerkass front.
    • He usually shows some respect for the Hulk, as a fellow superstrong, ill-tempered perpetual outsider (at least, as long as they're not being magically compelled to serve together in the Defenders; when that happens, he gets sick of ol' Jade Jaws pretty quickly).
  • Ultimate Marvel:
    • Ultimate Fantastic Four: Victor Van Damme. He's basically Doctor Doom without any of the latter's strangely charismatic bearing and ability to try and be charming despite his arrogance, leaving the self-centered egotist that is Doom's core personality exposed for all the world to see.
    • The Ultimates:
      • Gregory Stark is rude, demeaning and abrasive to everyone who isn't Nick Fury. And that's before he turns out to be evil. Apparently, he makes people book appointments just to make small talk with him.
      • Betty Ross/Ultimate She-Hulk was an unempathetic Alpha Bitch who often belittled Bruce, even dumping him only to take him back after he killed hundreds of civilians as the Hulk. In the aftermath of the Hulk's defeat, she's eagerly reporting to Nick how things are going with the team's approval ratings. At the funeral for the Hulk's victims. Even Nick is appalled by that one.
      • In general, the Liberators besides Abdul and to a lesser degree Perun are overall very unpleasant, arrogant individuals who take pride in pointlessly harming the American citizens.
  • X-Men:
    • Wolverine was an incredible Jerkass in his early days, pretty much regarded as a loose cannon who antagonized everyone around him (except Jean Grey, because he was too busy hitting on her). He grew out of it thanks to maturity and increasing self-discipline.
    • Superfast mutant Quicksilver has been a good guy, bad guy, and in-between, but never stops being an arrogant, self-centered dick. This extends to his other incarnations, such as his appearances on X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men (2009).
      • Peter David wrote a great story in X-Factor that gave a reason why Quicksilver's always such a tool. He explains to psychiatrist Doc Samson that everyone gets irritated waiting in a long line because someone else's slowness is holding it up. Imagine if everyone on else the planet is like the person holding up the line. That's the way Quicksilver feels.
    • Julian Keller is arrogant, angry, self-entitled, and just generally a dick to anyone outside his clique. When Noriko Ashida arrived at the school seeking help for her out of control powers, Julian tried to run her off for no better reason than because she'd been living on the streets and looked (and smelled) it. He takes an immediate dislike to X-23 for no real reason whatsoever. Julian can even be a dick to his own friends, yet at the same time fiercely loyal and protective of them. As a result, he does get better after Stryker's attacks on the school, which allows his softer and more noble side to peak through. However he gets angrier again when his hands get blow'ed up by Bastion, and starts to slide towards the edge of the slippery slope afterwards. Lately, though, he's started to turn things around again and get back to being more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
  • Ziggy Pig - Silly Seal Comics: Ziggy Pig is this crossed with Jaded Washout — he starts the story impoverished and forgotten, bitter at the world and respected by no one. He blames his problems on everyone else, and doesn't hesitate to plot his ex-partner's murder just to have a chance at inheriting his fortune.

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