Hated characters from the Marvel Universe who've subsequently been Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. Examples shouldn't be added for 9 months. This is measured from the point when the character was introduced or became hated.
- Cable used to symbolize everything wrong with the comics industry; now he's a fairly popular character, since he stopped being a '90s Anti-Hero and gained more characterization than "uses huge-ass guns". It also helps that he was teamed up with one of Marvel's most popular characters, Deadpool.
- An example of that gained characterization was when the writers finally came up with a reason for him to be more proactive (aka challenging norms publicly, doing much larger-scale, more-public things) in his work than Xavier. Originally, Cable was just "the guy who gets things done because whiny idealism like Xavier's doesn't work." A big reason he shifted was because people in the real world started disliking overly violent/murderous solutions to things. A real turning point was in Cable and Deadpool where Cable admitted that his need to change things in a big way now can very much be a flaw (Truth in Television too - people who go in trying to fundamentally change a system right away are usually kicked/laughed out very fast).
- Cable's Age of Apocalypse counterpart and half-brother (his 'mother' is Jean Grey, rather than her clone, Maddie Pryor) Nate Grey a.k.a. X-Man enjoyed an initial surge of Popularity Power that got him a solid ongoing series in the late 90s, but he spent most of the time aimlessly Walking the Earth while the problem of his power degeneration kept recurring and his somewhat strange supporting cast either went off to do their own thing or suffered Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. Steven Grant and Warren Ellis successfully retooled him into Marvel's 'Mutant Shaman' in issue 63, re-imagining him as a reality-jumping Ambiguously Human Crazy Sane hero in the style of Doctor Strange, serving as a Barrier Maiden for invasions from other parts of the multiverse. While the series was cancelled after issue 75, and this characterisation stuck when Nate returned during Dark Reign and New Mutants (though having suffered a Depower, he wasn't quite what he used to be).
- The character was also rescued, again, after the mixed reception of Ed Brisson's X-Men: Disassembled, which seemed to be both a retread of Avengers Disassembled (right down to the sudden Face–Heel Turn), and part of yet another cheap 'the X-Men are going to be wiped out' storyline, by Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler in the following Age of X-Man. While not regarded as a classic, it was commended for providing a deeper explanation for his Nate's motives, and having him realise how even his best intentions can turn into something every bit as bad as the world he came from, resulting in much-needed Character Development.
- Not only does Peter David have a knack for this, he has a vocal preference for it. He's practically the patron saint of forgotten or tragically uncool X-Men. The entire cast of every iteration of X-Factor is made up of C-list and D-List characters that no one else wanted. Under PAD's writing, they've all flourished and grown into their own.
- Layla Miller debuted in House of M as an obvious plot device, to the point that fans nicknamed her Layla MacGuffin
. When PAD recruited her onto the cast of X-Factor, he transformed her into an Oracular Urchin, Deadpan Snarker, and frequent Creepy Child, suddenly becoming a fan-favorite. Even after a big crossover punted her into the distant future, fan demand earned her a one-shot comic. - After he was forced to write Rahne Sinclair out of X-Factor so that she could be in X-Force, he added Rob Liefeld creation and epitome-of-the-90s Shatterstar to the book, just because he was so terminally unhip that no other writer would want to poach him. He ended up fleshing out his personality, having him discover sex, and along the way, finally discover the connection between him and Longshot.
- Peter David also de-Scrappified the Hulk's sidekick Rick Jones by aging him into an adult and letting him display a more well-rounded personality.
- Layla Miller debuted in House of M as an obvious plot device, to the point that fans nicknamed her Layla MacGuffin
- Hard to believe, but in the early days of Chris Claremont's epic run on X-Men, a vocal group of fans wrote letters demanding that Wolverine be killed off (70s readers weren't ready for a '90s Anti-Hero). It didn't help that co-plotter and penciller Dave Cockrum didn't like Wolverine either, focusing his attentions on his own personal creation, Nightcrawler. When John Byrne (a Canadian) replaced Cockrum, he liked the idea of a major hero from the Great White North, and became enamored of the little runt. A Moment of Awesome or two later, and an Ensemble Dark Horse was born, and the rest is history...
- Daken was widely despised by the fanbase during his initial appearances in Wolverine Origins, but started growing into a fan favourite after joining the Dark Avengers.
- Kaine in Spider-Girl: Once he was a wangsty over-hyped '90s Anti-Hero. Now he's a snarky badass just trying to atone and watch out for his niece and nephew. Excuse me, nephews. Doesn't hurt that they gave him a new look either.
- The mainstream version has become quite popular, due to getting his own series, Scarlet Spider, giving readers an anti-heroic and hilariously foul-mouthed Spider-Man whose main superpower seems to be making terrible decisions (actual tag-line for the series: "All of the Power, none of the Responsibility"), who is still heroic deep down, but struggles with his Dark and Troubled Past and the fact that he really doesn't like being a hero and just wants to sit on a beach in Mexico drinking margaritas for the rest of his life. Its cancellation saddened more people than you'd think... until they found out he was heading for the revival of the New Warriors. After that, Popularity Power made him an integral part of Spider-Verse, the Bat Family Crossover Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy, and the new Scarlet Spider series.
- The creation of the Marvel Adventures line saw a lot of characters getting a much-needed face lift, but by far, the best-received Retool was changing The Wasp into Giant Girl. Readers that hated the former loved the latter, and readers who liked the former adored the latter even more. Of all the characters who were axed when the MA: Avengers series was cancelled in favor of a continuity reboot in MA: Super-Heroes, Giant Girl was the one most fans were saddest to see go.
- Red Hulk was introduced by Jeph Loeb taking down one major league hero or cosmic entity after another, with no particular motivation and a secret identity that no one cared about. He used to provide the page picture for
Villain Sue. After Loeb lost control of the character it's been explained that his Villain Sue abilities were due to a Deadly Upgrade by a group that was using him to dispose of their enemies, then die. It's been removed, and Red Hulk subsequently went through the process of being cathartically (to both readers and characters) beaten up by the people he trounced while in God Mode and facing up to the consequences of his actions. Commentators on his newer storyline have mentioned how it just feels weird to actually be interested in Red Hulk as a character.- A similar rescue has taken place with the Red She-Hulk. Originally she was introduced as a generic 'sexy bad girl', complete with giant guns and a ludicrously ripped costume, and a prime example of Loeb's inability to come up with good names. Since then the firearms and the torn outfit were unceremoniously dropped, instead putting her and the Hulk into a well-received two-person Love Quadrangle.
- Maria Hill started off as Nick Fury's replacement after he went into hiding, and her main character trait seemed to be "Mega Bitch", specially in regards to superheroes, and she became one of the poster children for what was wrong with the Pro-Registration side during the Civil War. Then upon giving up her position to Tony Stark, she was subsequently changed into a much more likable character, one of Tony's closest confidants and quite badass.
- Invincible Iron Man rescued her for a lot of people, as she was given a backstory, character development, and ended up walking away from Tony when she discovered that he'd do Civil War all over again because he thought he was right. The run eventually led to Maria racing into the middle of Osborn's Dark Avengers to save Thor's life. Even if people don't like her, she's definitely not a Scrappy now.
- Spider-Man:
- Ever since Spider-Island, Carlie Cooper has slowly gained more fans as Peter's ex-girlfriend than she ever did while dating him. At first, she was a classic bad fanfic Mary Sue of the "perfect love for the main character because I say so" type. Then she got in the hands of a writer who wasn't basing her on his own daughter, got some character traits that weren't clippings taken from Gwen or MJ, and you can actually go a panel without everyone telling us over and over and over how perfect Carlie is for Peter even when they're the last characters you'd expect it from. Nowadays, her appearances usually focus on her role as an NYPD officer or as MJ's quirky civilian friend. By now, Carlie... almost makes people not see red at the mention of her name. (Her origin and the whole One More Day thing mean that'll be the best she can do for at least a few more years, though.)
- When first introduced, Carnage was not met with a warm reception since many had viewed him, as with comics during the 90s, as a poor man's Joker whose character shtick was being a violent nihilist who devotes his entire existence to murdering as many people as possible just because he can. It didn't help matters that he was meant to replace Venom, one of Spidey's most famous foes, when the latter became good. Then he was killed off by the even less likeable Sentry, causing many fans to actually miss the character wishing him to return. They finally got their wish when Carnage was brought Back from the Dead, and given much more characterization as a villain. With that as well as seeing his Inverted self in AXIS, Carnage for the most part has been cemented as being redeemed by many of his detractors and has since rivaled Venom in popularity, the character he was supposed to replace as one of Spider-Man's most infamous foes.
- Talking about Venom, Spider-Man's black suit was originally not that well received, mostly because at the time it was intended as a permanent replacement for his classic look. By turning it into an alien symbiote and having it become a character in its own right, its popularity skyrocketed, to the point that nowadays it is easily Spider-Man's second most iconic look after his original suit, and no adaptation of Spidey is complete without at least some period of him wearing it.
- Dan Slott also introduced a scrappy of his own, Silk, during his Spider-Man run. Silk got a lot of flak for basically having all of Spidey's powers but better, and instantly becoming Spidey's new love interest thanks to said powers causing Fantastic Arousal. But as soon as she was moved to her own comic under writer Robbie Thompson and artist Stacey Lee, she became one of Marvel's most-liked superheroines. Largely they toned down her 'superiority' to Spider-Man (she's the fastest of the Spiders, but she's notably not as strong and her spider-sense is fickle, making her the Fragile Speedster of the bunch), and her Fantastic Arousal powers were completely retconned out, to the point she went from being Peter's love interest to being more Like Brother and Sister, and her personality was completely overhauled, turning her into an Adorkable rookie with huge anxiety issues, making her something of Marvel's counterpart to DC's Jessica Cruz.
- Ever since Spider-Island, Carlie Cooper has slowly gained more fans as Peter's ex-girlfriend than she ever did while dating him. At first, she was a classic bad fanfic
- The early years of the Fantastic Four had the Invisible Girl be very much The Scrappy. It was even alluded to in the comic book itself much to Sue Storm's dismay and despite her team mates jumping to her defense. Come issue #22 and her invisible shields were introduced for the first time and she was rescued from the Scrappy heap...
- The Sentry was roundly despised outside of his original miniseries, being named the poster boy for Character Shilling, a massive God-Mode Sue, and a compulsive whiner with an inconsistent mental illness. His death didn't win him any favors, as more popular characters waxed poetic about good deeds he'd never performed on-panel. The Age of the Sentry miniseries ended up winning him a fair number of fans, primarily because it showed him actually doing the stuff everyone lauded him for, recasting him as a version of the Silver Age Superman. Unfortunately, since Age of the Sentry is pretty dubious in canonnote , plenty of fans didn't make the connection, and treat the likeable Sentry who teamed up with cavemen as basically a separate character from the one who ripped people in half.
- He got a bit of a rescue on his return in Uncanny Avengers, in large part because the Void was nowhere to be seen and the Sentry was now entertainingly batshit insane in his own right.
- His recent appearances in Doctor Strange's series, and his own miniseries, which actually explored his Robert Reynolds persona (distinctly ordinary guy in his late 30s who's getting by, working in a diner and living in a crappy apartment) and his Sentry/Void persona (which is kept in check by a kind of dream-machine, where he has adventures as the Sentry in his dreams in a kind of Silver Age utopia), his interactions with his former kid-sidekick (who's lost an arm and deeply resents that he doesn't have/no longer has powers like the Sentry's, and becomes the villain to get them back), one of his very few genuine villains, Cranio, and the end result: Robert merging the Sentry and Void personas, accepting the latter in particular, and becoming something... new.
- The Superior Foes of Spider-Man has been doing this for a whole slew of c-list supervillains and superheroes by giving them fleshed-out backstories and personalities when they had once been generic, one-off crowd fillers or red shirts. Most notable with Mach VII (who wasn't a full on Scrappy, but not many people cared about him) and the Looter (who was widely seen as nothing more than a Silver Age embarrassment).
- Daredevil villain Purple Man used to be a symbol for lame supervillains with wasted potential, barely doing anything notable despite his terrifying power (aside from a brief couple of issues of X-Man, where he successfully manipulated the titular hero, before finding out that a bad-tempered Omega Class Psychic and Reality Warper is not someone you want angry at you). But then, Brian Michael Bendis revamped him into a frightening, ruthless, and amoral sociopath in Alias, and now Purple Man may never face Villain Decay ever again. His popularity as a villain only increased in Mark Waid's run on Daredevil, in which he gained more character depth and actually came incredibly close to defeating Daredevil.
- Warren Ellis took Jack Flag, a Totally Radical 90's washout, and actually managed to do some cool things with him in Thunderbolts.
- Captain America: While not an out-and-out Scrappy, Bucky Barnes wasn't terribly popular, best known as the goofy Kid Sidekick whose tragic death both provided a source of angst for Steve Rogers and (unlike most comic book deaths) actually stuck. note Then in 2005 Ed Brubaker came along, reinvented him as a badass supersoldier with a robot arm and tragic past as a brainwashed assassin, and in the process turned him into a fan favorite, becoming one of the pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe less than a decade later. He's almost the anti-Jason Todd: a sidekick famous solely for dying and staying dead who gets resurrected as a badass Anti-Hero, only in this case people actually liked it.
- New Mutants: Doug Ramsey was in this position - he was a mutant with the ability to understand all language. Compared to the likes of Cannonball, Wolfsbane and Magma, he was just lame. He was murdered part way through the title's run and was seemingly resurrected into the form "Douglock", a combination of Doug with his old friend Warlock (it was later revealed that Douglock was actually Warlock with some of Doug's memories). Flash-forward to the 2000s where Doug was truly resurrected and heavily modified his all language powers to not only include computer language, but also body language. Doug wasn't a bad person - he was just a mutant introduced a few decades too early.
- X-Men: For the first ten years or so of his creation, the villain Azazel was noteworthy mostly for being in one of the most universally hated X-Men stories of all time, Chuck Austen's infamous "The Draco". Between that and his status as Nightcrawler's father supplanting the popular "Mystique is Nightcrawler's father" fan theory, Azazel made far more appearances on "Top 10 Worst X-Men Villains" lists than he did in stories. But then along came X-Men: First Class, which reimagined the character from a second-rate Belasco wannabe into a blade-wielding Russian mutant (and all around Badass) who managed to be powerful but not to Villain Sue levels. It would have been easy to make Azazel his own Canon Immigrant after this (something the comics have done before with popular movie revamps) but for his next appearance, writers gave Azazel a reinvention of their own, fashioning him into a Large Ham pirate archetype. This change was received well, and while he will probably never be an A-list villain, Azazel's rescue from the dregs of Scrappydom seems complete.
- Hellions similar to The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, took a bunch of the most forgotten and disliked X-Men villains. Such as John Greycrow, Empath, Nanny and Orphan-Maker, Inverted! Havok and Executive Meddling personified Madelyne Pryor. As well as Kwannon who at the time was a Replacement Scrappy for Psylocke and gave them all much-needed development, strong relationships and compelling elements, turning these once-hated characters into small fan-favorites.
