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Take That, Scrappy!

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"Picard, the captain who recognized Wesley's intellect and promoted him to acting ensign, responds with three words that follow me to this day: 'Shut up, Wesley!' Trekkies around the country gasp in delight as an episode that was veering into 'The Last Outpost' territory suddenly has redeeming value. Basement printing presses, silk screens, and button-makers go into over drive as entrepreneurial fans do what they do best. The convention market is flooded with the resulting merchandise, and children are still attending college today from the sales."
Wil Wheaton's review of Datalore

The Scrappy and their ilk are characters who are despised by most (if not all) of the fandom against the intent of their work's author. However, occasionally there may be one moment where the despised character is the butt of a humiliating joke, or another character says what the audience is thinking to/about the despised character.

If this results in the character's death, this can result in mass rejoicing. If the Scrappy in question has been around long enough and especially if they happen to be the Creator's Pet character, this is probably an Author's Saving Throw. Can be the character's (on the firing end) Moment of Awesome, or a Funny Moment. In some scenarios, however, this can come off as unnecessarily mean-spirited to some fans, especially if the cast breaks character to express their hatred.

An interesting philosophical question arises from these moments, with no easy answer: should fans compliment a writer for killing off a character...that this same writer ruined in the first place? Or is it a final admission of failure by that writer, that there was no way to fix the character?

Compare Creator's Pest and Discontinuity Nod. Contrast Creator's Pet, Alas, Poor Scrappy, and Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.


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Why Quagmire Hates Brain

After getting nowhere trying to change Quagmire's viewpoint on him, Brian finally asks Quagmire why he hates him. Which Quagmire responds to with a minute and a half long rant about everything wrong with him

How well does it match the trope?

4.91 (85 votes)

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Main / TheReasonYouSuckSpeech

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