Basic Trope: A character who is aware of, and proud of, how much of a Jerkass they are.
- Straight: Jack is highly aware that he is a total jackass and is very proud of that fact.
- Exaggerated:
- Card-Carrying Villain
- Jack is proud of every single mean deed he's done.
- Downplayed: Jack is somewhat proud that he parked in a "no parking" zone.
- Justified:
- Jack interacts with people who find it entertaining to see someone act so unkind.
- Jack is incapable of feeling empathy.
- Jack is a misanthrope who believes that all human beings are vile, selfish and hateful deep down, but that unlike those around him, he's honest.
- Sergeant Jack is a Drill Sergeant Nasty who believes that he needs to be a jerkass to do his job.
- Jack's parents always taught him that Honesty Is the Best Policy. He took that to heart in the worst way possible.
- Jack is a Good is Not Nice Anti-Hero whose methods are necessary for achieving The Needs of the Many.
- Inverted:
- For some reason, Jack is ashamed that he's such a good person.
- Jack knows he's a jerk and is ashamed of it.
- Card-Carrying Nice Guy: Swell Samuel knows that he's a beloved nice guy and is proud of the fact.
- Subverted: Although Jack acts like he's proud of how much of a jerk he is, he reveals this was all an act to get people to like him.
- Double Subverted: He only downplays his nasty attitude. He's actually much worse.
- Parodied:
- All Jack ever does is Poke the Poodle, but he still treats it like it's something to be proud of anyway.
- Jack literally has an ID card on his person that presents him as the "designated jerk" of the group.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Jack is sometimes proud of his bad actions, and sometimes not.
- Jack is proud of some of his bad actions but not others.
- Averted: Nobody is proud of being a jerk.
- Enforced:
- Jack is an Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist or bully in a kids' movie/show — this is almost expected.
- "How do we let the audience know how mean Jack is?" "Have him brag about being a bully!"
- Lampshaded:
- "Did he just publicly admit that he's a jerk?"
- "Ah, so you do admit that you're the kind of person who insult others!" "Uh, yes! What made you think otherwise?"
- Invoked: Jack gets a "The Reason You Suck" Speech in which Jack is told that if he can't be nice, he should at least be honest that he's a jerk.
- Exploited:
- Nice people use this to try to identify jerkasses who can be redeemed; their logic being that jerkasses who self-identify as mean will become kinder as soon as they get another option.
- On the flip side, the heroes use this to identify the Jerk with a Heart of Jerk and give them wide berth, because chances are that someone who goes so out of their way to present themselves as incorrigible bastards to begin with are either faking redemption or will backtrack their moment of kindness hard and fast regardless of how practical that is.
- Defied: Jack decides not to take pride in his bad deeds; he's actually trying to be a better person.
- Discussed: "Jack, you're so mean!" "Thank you!"
- Conversed: "Why are some characters so proud of how unpleasant they are?"
- Deconstructed: Jack is so openly proud of being an asshole that his coworkers become fed up with him, eventually lodging a complaint with management that gets Jack fired from his job.
- Reconstructed: Jack is happy to have lost his job, because now he has more hours in his day to spend on being a total douche.
Back to Card-Carrying Jerkass
