The second one sounds like Most Annoying Sound, although that's on Darth Wiki.
Should we consider removing the following Scrappy entries from YMMV.Power Rangers Wild Force?
- The Scrappy:
- Princess Shayla, who is basically a really useless Princess who sings. She also tends to be kidnapped a lot. Despite the one time she did something awesome, kicking Toxica away when she had grabbed her by the Standard Female Grab Area and claiming that she wasn't "just" a princess, she is still hated simply because this occurred only once and was never mentioned again, reverting Shayla to the silly Disney Princess role of stand-around-look-pretty-say-"deep"-stuff-and-get-kidnapped. Her making the rangers hand in their jackets at the end of the series is also seen as a rather dickish moves by the fans.
- Kite. A whiny little brat who completely disparages the Rangers' efforts and sacrifices, rants on and on about how Humans Are Bastards, is perfectly willing to abandon them and Shayla to die, hammers in the Green Aesop in the most annoying, tedious and Anvilicious way possible, is of little help when actually needed, and has an annoying, whiny voice. He was Animus (which makes him a scrappy by proxy), who because of his hatred for humanity who even after revealing that him taking the Zords and the rangers' powers away, and him putting Shayla in a coma was a Secret Test of Character, still didn't take back any of the things he said about humanity.
After the episode "The Soul of Humanity", did Animus get Rescued from the Scrappy Heap?
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.@Forenperser: About Maya Brooks.
The Scrappy requires they be consistently hated, so a bad outing for an otherwise well/OK received character doesn't count. Said outing being so much of their screentime might count, but am not sure. On the subject:
- Ashley Williams was a Base-Breaking Character in the first game, but often chosen over Kaidan for being a deeper character and better for gameplay reasons. 3 had Kaidan Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, seemingly at Ashley's expense. Reasons for this ranged from her Unnecessary Makeover (her loose hair was deemed as both impractical for a woman soldier, and a bad attempt to copy Miranda); unsympathetic characterization (her Fantastic Racism underwent Flanderization, while her Hidden Depths with a love of poetry was ignored, and her theological discussion about the Lazarus Project was cut from the game). In addition, she had almost no interaction with any other non-Shepard squadmates. Many felt Kaidan did a better job of articulating why he was having a hard time trusting Shepard. In the climax of the Citadel coup, Ashley again calls Shepard a Cerberus lapdog, while Kaidan instead is questioning why Shepard is pointing a gun at a councilor. Dialogue from the hospital scenes also made Kaidan feel a lot more contrite about what happened on Horizon, whereas Ashley seemed to brush it off (only for her rant about Cerberus during the coup). Finding Ashley drunk in the lounge, while funny, doesn't build her character, whereas Kaidan had a much deeper conversation about ex-Cerberus scientists, and wondering if the Illusive Man was ever a decent person before the indoctrination. Gameplay balance was also hammered out after the first game (and a bug making Ashley's unique ability not work properly) made many decide Kaidan was a better party member to pick. Even the Citadel DLC scenes with Ashley was criticized for being a ripoff of the Mos Eisley cantina scene rather than adding to her character.
- SpongeBob SquarePants:
- Mr. Krabs. While he was already something of a Base-Breaking Character in the pre-movie era due to his greed, his Flanderization in the middle seasons caused him to become near-universally despised, to the point where many fans just want to see him suffer a truly horrible fate, like he almost did in the movie. Certain episodes from seasons 6-8 have seen his rivalry with Plankton devolve into making his life hell just for fun, feeding poison or rotten food to his customers intentionally for the sake of an extra dollar, or extorting and abusing his employees. The fact that he gets away with these at least 80% of the time doesn't help. According to writers and the creator himself, Krabs is supposed to look as bad (if not worse) than Plankton himself at times. It's just the matter of letting him get away with it that they and the audience seem split over.
- Patrick likewise was a case of this in later seasons where he essentially just expected to get his way because he's an idiot. As with Mr. Krabs, the writers seemed to find this funny. But fans started loathing him for his more selfish antics and never getting reprimanded for it, especially at the expense of another character (namely Squidward and even his "best friend", SpongeBob) just for the sake of the joke. Possibly Rescued from the Scrappy Heap since the 9th season, which undid some of his Flanderization and actually forced him to suffer the consequences of his actions when his stupidity did cause a problem.
The first I'm not sure if valid as they weren't popular prior. Last two I think were popular and iconic before the Seasonal Rot so I suspect misuse. I look like it's from the current shows hatedom as opposed to those who are still unironic fans of the show. Thoughts?
YMMV.The Casagrandes lists Sergio as the Scrappy for being a jerk and for being "shoehorned in". I personally find him pretty funny and the only episodes where his jerkiness went too far in my eyes were "Snack Pact" and "Power Play", and he got punished in both episodes, so I don't hate him for it.
But as for other people's opinions, I know quite a few people have complained online about him being a jerk, although I also know some people don't mind him, yet I never heard anyone else complaining about shoehorning.
For every low there is a high.A lot of TakeThatScrappy.Video Games is bad. Like, there's a bunch of "disliked character is playable or a boss, therefore you can hurt them lol" with no mention whether being able to hurt them is a Take That!. Even though it is a YMMV article, one of the criteria is that the take that is intentional and in response to audience opinion.
My commentary in bold:
- The Season 5 Battle Pass for Call of Duty: Mobile adds Rorke, the Invincible Villain from Ghosts, as a skin. Do you know what that means? Now you can kill him as many times as you want! Unless a selling point of the Battle Pass is being able to bully him, that's just making a skin out of a character.
- Dead Space 3 has Norton who is a Jerkass that is overly protective toward Ellie, whom Isaac once dated before the events of the game. His Yandere attitude causes him to be very jealous of their behavior and this eventually has him betray Isaac so he can save Ellie. Even after Isaac saves him, he STILL tries to kill Isaac. Isaac's response? Boom, Headshot!.
- Also, thanks to the ability to stomp and shoot his dead body, many players didn't stop at the headshot.
- And, to top it off, in the Awakened DLC Norton reappears as the first Necromorph encounter, so you get to kill him again. This bullet is possibly an example if rewritten. The rest can't be in response to audience reactions though since it's from within the same game.
- Also, thanks to the ability to stomp and shoot his dead body, many players didn't stop at the headshot.
- Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition/Plutonia Pack features Scrappy "Due". In a cage. In the basement of a burger joint staffed by Beavis and Butt-Head. Surrounded by his own excrement. About to be made into hamburger. You can do the humane thing and blow him to bloody ribbons. (A scrappy meal?) About the Trope Namer, but not actually an example. This is just a normal Take That!.
- Fable II mentions a rumor that Weaver the Guildmaster was found dead with the words "Your health is Low!" carved onto his forehead. Also, you can optionally kill him as part of a quest in The Lost Chapters edition of the first game. The rumor could be referring to that. First half is fine but the second is just natter.
- The PSP remake of Final Fantasy Tactics features a new battle which brings its resident Scrappy Argath Back from the Dead just so you get the pleasure of killing him again. Years later Square Enix did a Tactics-themed tie-in with Final Fantasy XIV, where the player gets to kick Argath's butt yet again, even when he transforms into a Lucavi Demon. Maybe an example? Needs more context, because as written it just sounds like they brought a villain back to fight you again.
- The second Hatoful Boyfriend has a new character in Nishikikouji Tohri, notable for being a shallow, absurd Card-Carrying Villain who's never shown to be anything more than what he seems, in a pair of games where every character seems to fit some kind of stereotype initially but turns out to have labyrinthine Hidden Depths. In the manga he keeps barging in to advertise the drama CDs, and the other characters, Breaking the Fourth Wall, angrily protest that the fans don't like him and him getting this much attention will stir their hatred. Most fans do not in fact hate him, except apparently in-universe. The last line feels like it was added by someone else. If fans don't hate the character out of universe, then they're not actually a Scrappy. Not knowing the franchise, this entry really depends on whether the character is hated or not.
- Carter Blake from Heavy Rain is a complete asshole from the moment he appears, and in one optional chapter he goads you to hit him. You can. Hate Sink, not a Scrappy.
- Invoked in Killer7. Iwazaru is generally disliked for talking for far too long even by Remnant Psyche standards and not maintaining the calmness of Travis, the other main Remnant Psyche. Furthermore, Remnant Psyches automatically talk at a fixed rate, and you can either sit through it or skip the whole thing. So naturally, the Post Final Boss is wearing Iwazaru's outfit and might actually be Iwazaru. All he does is run down a narrow hallway and stand around so he can be shot five times. Not in response to fan reactions, just a boss fight. Also, this entry is pretty shaky on whether it even counts.
- In Hitman 2, The ICA Electrocution Phone is this by many players. It allowed you to kill any one target, risk-free, and in an accident, and the only risk was exiting the level. This weapon made a mockery of the difficulty of Elusive Targets, regular targets, and generally made all other options slower by comparison. Notably, when Hitman 3 allowed unlocks to be imported from that game, the Electrocution phone was the only one that got left behind, and it was very likely due to its Scrappy Weapon nature and controversy it caused within the playerbase. Not a Take That!, just removing an overpowered item from the game.
- From the Mass Effect series:
- Mass Effect 1 has Ambassador Udina, a brown-nosing politician who later in the game impounds the Normandy when your dire warnings aren't heeded and you become politically inconvenient. Your good friend Captain Anderson hatches a plan to rectify that and send you on your way to save the galaxy and take the heat for it himself. One option involves Anderson storming into Udina's office, downing the ambassador in one punch, and then freeing the Normandy from her dock. You can later do one on him yourself by endorsing Anderson for the Council seat instead of Udina. The third game takes this even further with a Renegade interrupt that lets you kill him. Sounds like a villain getting punished, not a Scrappy.
- There's also Khalisah al-Jilani, the reporter, who tries to make Shepard look bad in pursuit of ratings. In Mass Effect 1, you can crack her jaw. In Mass Effect 2 Shepard can crack her jaw again, or s/he can give her an an equally awesome verbal beatdown. Lair of the Shadow Broker also includes videos of her getting punched out by a krogan... and kicked in the shin by a volusnote . If you try to punch her again in the third game, she's finally wised up enough to dodge...but then another interrupt appears that lets you headbutt her. Hate Sink, not a Scrappy.
- In a case of the scrappy being a vehicle/game mechanic rather than a person, James and Steve can be heard bickering over the flaws/merits of the Mako and Hammerhead. Steve thinks the Mako handles like a drunk rhino, James thinks the Hammerhead's made of tissue paper. Possibly an example, but it needs notes on which game(s) the hated vehicles originated from and which game is making fun of them.
- You can invoke this in the Citadel DLC where near the end of the main story where by picking your last two party members, the one who has been picked the least will complain that they never get picked to go on missions at all. ???
- The entire character of Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov in Metal Gear Solid 3 is this: He looks exactly like Raiden, the last game's widely-hated protagonist, and appears in the game as the sadomasochistic colonel Volgin's homosexual love interest (even his name is a Japanese double entendre: 'Raidenovitch' can be read in Japanese as 'Raiden no bitch', which itself translates to 'Thunderbolt's bitch', hinting at his and Volgin's relationship). Doesn't explain why this is a Take That!.
- Technically, Raiden was only hated by American fans. In Japan, Raiden's fanbase potentially rivals that of even Solid Snake. Also, the player is given the option to either kill or knock out Raikov, depending on what the player feels like, and the player doesn't even get a Time Paradox if he does the former. This bullet is completely pointless, and breaks Repair, Don't Respond.
- The player also has a mask of Raikov's likeness that's used late in the game to impersonate him, and there's a lot of fun to be had with the mask: Calling your Mission Control while wearing the mask will lead Snake's superior Zero to comment on how just wearing the mask is already making Snake seem more annoying, while Snake himself insists that wearing the mask is bound to make him more popular. The two other assistants will instead comment how they like the mask. This is a good entry. I wanted to keep this one to contrast the first two.
- The Secret Theatre FMVs also poke fun of Raiden: One FMV involves Raiden and Snake fighting over who gets to be the protagonist in Metal Gear Solid 4, with Snake winning in the end. In another FMV, Raiden goes back in time to eliminate Big Boss during Operation Snake Eater so he can be the main character, but can't bring himself to it when he finally meets the man face-to-face... and came to regret that when he decided to kill Solid Snake before he could be the main character of the Solid series, only for Big Boss to shamelessly kill him while hunting for Solid Snake in the final battle of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. However, as Rose consoles him, there's always going to be a fifth MGS game... (Which still wasn't the actual fifth MGS game.) This one on the other hand is rambling and barely related to the topic.
- Metroid: Other M has quite the Broken Base, but a lot of people dislike Adam due to him spending most of the game in a comm booth and locking off the majority of your equipment for no good reason. Having quite a few comments and moments that are perceived as sexist or abusive by many fans doesn't help. So the moment when Samus says 'screw this' and activates an upgrade by herself, complete with Dialogue Reversal, is extremely cathartic. Sadly, it's defied when Adam shows up near Sector 0 and shoots her in the back before blowing up the sector himself in an ultimately Senseless Sacrifice, being hailed in Samus's eyes as a hero despite everything he's done. Not an example, but it does explain why the character is a Scrappy quite well.
- Thankfully, a more thorough version of this trope befalls him in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate where he's a spirit character in World of Light that you can beat up, preferably with either version of Samus. He's a Novice spirit, meaning he requires little to no effort to beat, and to add insult to injury, Young Samus from the same game, herself a divisive character for her Chickification, is an Advanced spirit which actually requires some strategic planning. Giving Adam payback for the things he did in Other M is a massive Catharsis Factor, and one a lot of players adamantly appreciated. Doesn't feel intentional enough to be a real Take That!. There are a lot of spirits, and having one non-combat character be a low-tier spirit isn't noteworthy.
- The season 2 finale of Sam & Max: Freelance Police does this to the Soda Poppers, combined with a Brick Joke. They become the rulers of hell and, long story short, Sam and Max drop them into a small island in a pit of lava. The Stinger of the episode/season shows them doing the 'we'll be back' monologue...then, the purple Bermuda Triangle from the end of Moai Better Blues appears. Last we saw, a volcano had been erupting into it...the Poppers get vaporized.
- This was completely intentional from the very beginning - The Soda Poppers are hated both in-and-out-of-universe. Only two characters like or care about them in any capacity aside from how they can be exploited to further Sam & Max's goals, and one of them is Max (who you may recognize as someone who regularly exploits the Soda Poppers to further Sam & Max's goals). If the character is meant to be hated, it's a Hate Sink, not a Scrappy.
- Pokémons Mascot Mook Pikachu is often hated due to its sheer overexposure. In response, the development team has sometimes made it the Butt-Monkey at the hands of other Pokemon. Ken Sugimori's official artwork of Palossand depicts it sucking Pikachu into a sand trap like an antlion, while Pokémon Sword and Shield features Cramorant, which has an ability that lets it swallow and spit up a Pikachu after using Dive or Surf and at low health. I find it a hard pill to swallow calling one of the most iconic video game characters of all time a Scrappy, overexposed or not. Those examples are also pretty flimsy.
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Omochao, introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, rose to infamy for constantly providing gameplay tips. And he can be used as a weapon. You can pick Omochao up and throw him, killing robots hitting them with Omochao or tossing him off cliffs, which briefly sets him on fire. And if a player manages to finish a stage while carrying him (which is rarely possible), he comments on it; several of his end-of-stage lines
sound very dismayed ("All I can see is water! Where is my home?!"). The fact that he programmed in such a way suggests that even the developers found him annoying. Additionally, Shadow the Hedgehog contains the Omochao gun, which fires Omochao as ammunition. The Shadow the Hedgehog part might be an example, but the rest of this is not.
- Sonic Rush Adventure introduced Marine the Raccoon, whose Motor Mouth Reckless Sidekick tendencies and delusion that she is the real hero brushed a number of fans the wrong way... and her fellow protagonists have similar reactions to her behavior. Sonic, Tails, and Blaze lampshade how annoying she can be, ultimately leading up to a scene before the final level where Blaze finally blows up and yells at her: "You're a nuisance!" Hate Sink/Straw Loser, not a Scrappy.
- A lot of people dislike Silver from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) for being wangsty, or for the boss fight against him in said game being particularly unpleasant, and even those who like him think his story could have been handled a lot better. So the cutscene following the Silver vs. Shadow boss fight, where Shadow gives Silver a solid roundhouse kick to the back of his head, was remarkably cathartic. Not intentional by the devs.
- Many fans agree that Silver was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap as a result of his boss fight in Sonic Generations. But regardless of the player's opinion of him, that fight ends in him being run over by a massive Katamari-esque ball of doom (which he created to run over Sonic). Makes that kick to the head look pleasant. Hard to say whether this is in response to how hated he was. Needs more context.
- The Deadly Six from Sonic Lost World are hated by a lot of people for being shallow villains and lackluster bosses, and for the general mediocrity of that game. Zavok's boss fight in Sonic Forces ends with Sonic physically punching him multiple times in an epic beatdown, which is very cathartic for said people to see. Just a boss fight, not a Take That!.
- Omochao, introduced in Sonic Adventure 2, rose to infamy for constantly providing gameplay tips. And he can be used as a weapon. You can pick Omochao up and throw him, killing robots hitting them with Omochao or tossing him off cliffs, which briefly sets him on fire. And if a player manages to finish a stage while carrying him (which is rarely possible), he comments on it; several of his end-of-stage lines
- For South Park fans that have no love for Randy Marsh and Stephen Stotch, or are still sour towards Sheila Broflovski after the movie, The Fractured But Whole makes all three of them boss fights for your catharsis pleasure. Unless they're specifically poking fun at how hated the characters are (which wouldn't surprise me given the source material), not an example. If that is the case, the entry needs to note it.
- World of Warcraft:
- A quest chain in Cataclysm has the player delving into Thrall's inner emotional struggles in an effort to bring him back after he's killed by the Twilight's Hammer. When the player gets to his inner rage, there are hints that he's... less than pleased with Garrosh's run as Warchief. For those who see Varian Wrynn as The Scrappy, Thrall ain't happy with him either. This is a series I'm very familiar with, and I cleaned it up a bit already. I left this entry, but I'm on the fence about it. On one hand, it makes sense for Thrall to have repressed negative emotions about Garrosh and Varian, and they're presented as a bad thing in story. On the other hand, it's a popular character echoing fanbase opinions. So, I dunno.
- The inclusion of Duck Hunt dog in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS is partially for this reason. For the longest time, the dog taunts at the player's failure with an irritating laugh and can't be shot. Any time he's able to be shot (such as the bonus stages in Vs. Duck Hunt), you get a penalty or reprimanding. In his inclusion, the players are finally given the chance to beat the ever-loving crap out of it without penalty. The other part? Because this is essentially an answer of a long overdue fair play, this instead did the nearly impossible: It rescues the dog from being one of the most infamous video game Scrappies. Absolutely under no circumstances is this a Take That!. It's a loving tribute that's so well done it redeemed the character.
- Hiveswap Friendsim's resident Hate Sink Zebruh Codakk was revealed in a later installment to be regularly cheated out of money by Remele. Remele quickly became a fan favourite.
- Volume 16 takes it Up To Eleven when Zebruh and the player's plan to pretend to assassinate Marvus fails, which results in Marvus's audience tearing Zebruh limb from limb. Literally admitted by the entry to be a Hate Sink.
- Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear has one with Schael Corwin, the Number Two throughout the saga who never really caught on with fans. At the very end of the game, the player character is framed for murdering Skie Silvershield, and Corwin claims that she saw the player kill her, even though it's not true. Schael then tells the player, whether innocent or not, they should commit suicide to give Baldur's Gate peace. The player gives her a short and sweet "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Not a Scrappy, also very confusingly keeps switching between referring to the character by first name and by last name, which made this hard to read.
Charname: I take it back, Schael, you're not a traitor. I can handle treason. You're worse: You're an idiot.
An example from Psych YMMV
- Ethnic Scrappy: Tony and Joon from "High Top Fade Out," of "Blackapella," who gave out "free biscuits and gravy" after each show. The latter is even played by Kenan Thompson. And the former is none other than Jaleel White, himself.
The entry does a poor job at explaining why they are hated
Found this entry for The Scrappy in the Game of Thrones subpage:
- Sansa Stark, mainly starting around Season 6. In later seasons, she becomes a cold and manipulative person who doesn't even treat her family that well: she decides that Rickon can't be saved, doesn't give Jon vital information about the army of the Vale, and breaks a promise to not reveal the secret of Jon's parentage. She also acts antagonistically towards Daenerys (such as by revealing Jon's parentage), even after Daenerys has helped the North defeat the White Walkers. And she never pays for any of this, actually ending the series as Queen of an independent North, raising similar problems to Bran. It is perhaps telling that "Sansa Stark Bashing"
is a tag over on Archive of Our Own.
Seeing as she has a considerable fan base, I don’t think Sansa qualifies as a Scrappy. She might be divisive but I’ve seen comments on You Tube that don’t bash the character. Maybe cut?
Edited by spyland2 on Jul 8th 2021 at 7:30:54 AM
Yeah it's worth talking to the Broken Base thread if she doesn't already have an entry under Base-Breaking Character
- The Scrappy: North is ultimately not a very likeable character due to the reveal that the entire movie was a dream giving the implications that he's a self-centered bigot who cannot tolerate cultures as different such as the relatively tame Amish.
He's the protagonist of a hated film. Yeah, no.
Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!And it relies on what's basically Fridge Horror too.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.- Base-Breaking Character: Ava is the biggest one. Many players see her as The Load, a constant burden on the other characters who's reckless actions make her directly responsible for the death of Maya, and Troy stealing her powers, an act she is never called out on by the other characters, or even seems to grow from, and instead blames on Lilith. Later, she inherits Maya's powers after Troy's death, and is given Sanctuary by Lilith, which detractors argue feel completely unearned. Ava is not without fans, however, who argue that her actions are realistic for a girl her age, that her haters overstate her role in the events above, and that she does experience Character Development, albeit subtly and mostly through easily missable optional dialogue. Gearbox themselves admitted on their Borderlands Show podcast that the negative reaction to Ava took them by surprise, but they hope to endear her to players in an upcoming DLC.
- Creator's Pet: Ava. While not universally hated, she's noticeably disliked enough that it's worth mentioning. She's also less important to the plot than the game seems to imply, other major heroes seems to like her to the point that they don't hold her accountable for the problems she clearly causes, she never truly grows out of being a bratty teenager, and the creators showed genuine surprise when a lot of people said they didn't like her. The Director's Cut DLC spending a noticeable amount of time on her isn't helping. What makes it worse that it still doesn't address her role in Maya's death, with nobody, not even this generation's Vault Hunters, calling her out on it even once, and only somewhat talks about her job in leading Sanctuary. In effect, it makes the massive Conflict Ball in the base game retroactively harder to ignore.
My impression is BBC disqualifies Creator's Pet as it requires The Scrappy levels of widely hated. On the other hand, the DLC to "endear her to players" didn't seem to happen/work, if not made this worse. Thoughts?
Like you mentioned, if she has enough fans to be a Base-Breaking Character, then by definition she cannot be a Creator's Pet.
This is a serious question: Where did the protagonist can't be a scrappy come from? It seems that is completely possible, especially if a work is badly made enough.
Edited by jjjj2 on Jul 13th 2021 at 12:37:50 PM
You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the midI'm not sure. It might be an issue with association, as most "protagonist is a scrappy" examples come from people who just hate the entire work anyway.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.Simon Sez has this:
- The Scrappy: Nick. When he's played by Dane Cook, you know he'll be the annoying sidekick.
Seems more directed at the actor than the character.
And remember, The Scrappy has criteria.
"Listen up, Marina, because this is SUPER important. Whatever you do, don't eat th“ “DON'T EAT WHAT?! Your text box ran out of space!”
