The Woobie Cleanup

The characters haven't gone through "exactly the same thing" though. I'm genuinely confused why you think they have and keep saying their suffering is the same. A few instances of "shared" bad experiences is America and Canada's experiences in the lab (but even then they were put through different experiments) and the grief characters share over Blake's death.

The things are harrowing and have lasting effects on the characters. Ruby has PTSD from losing an eye, Yang suffers guilt from what she did to Alfred, Vale has severe trust issues over Ozpin's betrayal, etc. What are you trying to argue? It feels like you haven't read my reevaluations or write ups. Also, (in case that was unclear) the fanfic is a series of five fics. This isn't all jammed into one book, nor is the fic series a Dark Fic. The darkest it gets is similar (maybe slightly darker) than the darker parts of RWBY (think Volume 3).

I'll abstain from those examples.

Julia.

Yes to Julia.

Here's this from Unikitty!.

• The Woobie: Richard in end of "Film Fest", he won but nobody understood what his movie was supposed to be, much to his disappointment.

Entries like that should go into the re-evaluation box.

What's the procedure for actually getting a character added to a work's YMMV page? A while ago, I suggested PAFF from Cytus II, and she got enough votes to be accepted, so I put a write-up on The Woobie Drafts. I was reminded by another user this morning that it's still waiting to be added there, but I'm not sure whether it's OK for me to go ahead and put it up on the work's page.

You'd have to contact Klavice there. Normally it's his job in regards to asking for them to be added.

If a character not making an actual appearance in any part of a continuity disqualifies them from being a CM and an MB, then would it DQ them from being a woobie?

That's a question I've asked Klavice and I'm still waiting for a response.

Sorry been busy. Let me catch up.

To answer your question Zuxtron, go right ahead. It's an open sandbox and I believe the YMMV page is unlocked.

As for whether or not a character has to appear in order to count the answer is no. I can think of Cave Johnson for example doesn't appear in the actual Portal games yet you can feel his presence throughout the game.

So I would say so long as they are explained to be in the story somehow, then I'd say they can count. It's if the character has no presence in the story and is explained in a fanfic for example.

Here's another Woobie candidate I just thought up.

What's the Work?

The Empty Pot is a 1990 children's book by Demi. In the book, the emperor of a kingdom who loves flowers is very old and trying to find a successor. He puts up a contest with the rules that whoever brings him the best flower will be the successor to the throne. Every child in the kingdom arrives, and one of said children is my candidate.

Who is He? What's His Problem?

Ping is a boy with a Green Thumb. Everything he plants bursts into bloom, even big fruit trees. When he receives his seed, he is the happiest child of all. He is confident that he'll be able to plant something to impress the emperor.

For days, he tends to the plant, but nothing grows. He tries transporting the plant to richer, better soil, but that doesn't work. After a whole year, he has nothing to show for his hard work but an empty pot, and is ashamed that this is the first seed he couldn't grow. His friend teases him, but Ping says he's grown a lot of flowers better than him. After some convincing from his father, Ping goes to the palace.

All the other children have beautiful flowers, but the emperor does not look impressed. When the emperor gets to him, Ping reluctantly explains that none of his efforts to get the seed to grow worked, and he has only an empty pot to give him.

However, the emperor is actually delighted! As it turns out, the reason why Ping's seed didn't sprout was because (like the seeds of all the other kids) it had been cooked. The emperor is so pleased by Ping's courage and honesty that he names him his successor.

Is He a Jerkass?

Not at all.

Can He Defend Himself?

He's never shown to be able to.

Sympathy Standard?

No one else is insecure (they clearly cheated).

Verdict?

To all I've missed.

I've talked with Klavice and it seems it's possible for a character to be a woobie on a personal scale.

Who's with this?

I'll be reevaluating four recent unapproved entries from RWBY. The first is Mercury Black.

Who is he?

Mercury Black is an antagonist from RWBY. He is the son of an assassin, Marcus Black, and was raised to be an assassin his whole life. He is recruited by Cinder (who was looking for his father but found him instead) along with Emerald and infiltrates Beacon as a Haven student.

What has he endured?

His father was abusive towards him and beat him daily to "train" him. His father also stole his Semblance with his but died before Mercury could "earn" it back. He kills his father but loses his legs due to the fight. He gets robotic replacements.

His response?

Since he has no Semblance, Mercury works extra hard to keep up with and surpass other fighters in the series. When he receives his leg injuries, he is breathing heavily and bruised but does not cry or scream or anything.

Losing his legs does not bother him (at least, not onscreen). He works with Cinder not only because she would kill him if he refused, but because he wants to be a king in Salem's new world. He thinks Cinder finding him was "meant to be". When he and Emerald get into an argument about whether Cinder cares about them, he rants about his father beating him and reveals he has no Semblance. He turns to violence because that is all he knows.

He is only shown to be nervous or uneasy when confronted with Salem's powers and her Grimm. Mercury is visibly unnerved by the pools of Grimm in Salem's world. When Salem begins breaking the windows because of her anger, Mercury tenses up and looks around warily. He also is ready to defend Emerald from Tyrian when they arrive back to base after failing their mission.

Is he a jerk? Any jerk moves?

The real question is when isn't Mercury a jerk?

In his first appearance, he goes against orders to kill Tukson, an ex-White Fang and current bookshop owner who was trying to escape the city. His boss did not care about Tukson, and did not think he needed to be killed. He pretends to be Team RWBY's friend along with Emerald in an attempt to get information from them. He willingly frames Yang for "attacking" him and gets Team RWBY disqualified from the Vytal Festival Tournament.

When Pyrrha and Penny are about to fight, Mercury mocks Ruby over how "bad" that matchup is. He stops Ruby from warning anyone that Penny is a robot (so Pyrrha can easily tear her apart), and Penny is killed.

While Emerald has second thoughts and shows regret, he gleefully records the fall of Beacon, which includes recording footage of Atlesian Knights and Grimm killing people. He isn't bothered by innocent people dying, at all. He grins when Jaune tearfully confronts Cinder about killing Pyrrha.

When Emerald asks him if he wants to leave Salem, he dismisses her and says she's on her own if she tries to run. He also tells her Cinder never cared about them, which causes them to fight. Brutal Honesty it may be, but still a jerk move.

Verdict?

I don't think he's any type of Woobie, not even a Jerkass one.

While Mercury's backstory can give him sympathy points, it's not enough. There are too many onscreen moments of evil and him enjoying doing that evil. His past is told by him through exposition (aka his abusive backstory is offscreen) except for the point where Cinder found him. He's not a Complete Monster, but he's too sadistic and enjoys the evil he does too much to sympathize with him. He defended Emerald against Tyrian, but right after that he is cold to her. He had the chance to show a kinder side when Emerald turned to him but cruelly rejected her instead and sneered at her for her belief that Cinder cared for them. He's a sociopath and a sadist, and often sports a Slasher Smile when he's about to do something evil.

I say . Cut him.

Edited by EmeraldSky on Feb 18th 2019 at 6:07:19 AM

Mercury.

How about we take hints from Marvin the Martian and blow this pieces like the planet he desired to destroy.

Mercury.

By the way, I noticed Chico (whom I proposed) isn't on any Woobie pages.

To MasterJoseph: By "personal scale", do you mean something like "I have experienced something similar to what this character experienced, so they are a Woobie to me"? If so, yes, I can see that.

Edited by EmeraldSky on Feb 18th 2019 at 6:32:40 AM

Klavice hadn't gotten around to posting that batch yet.

Yes to Ping, but cut Mercury.

Edited by Bullman on Feb 18th 2019 at 10:41:46 AM

Mercury.

I've foudn this on Shadowhunters

• The Woobie: Every main character. And most of the recurring characters. This show does not give anyone a break.

Cut?

Not just that, you can post that entry in the Re-Evaluation Box.

Mercury. While Tyrian has hinted that there's more to Mercury than Mercury wants to show, nothing so far makes him eligible for any Woobie trope.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Feb 20th 2019 at 12:10:44 PM

Since Mercury has enough votes to be cut, here is the next unapproved RWBY candidate: Neopolitan/Neo.

Who is she?

Neo is an antagonist of RWBY and Roman Torchwick's mute criminal partner. It is implied he was her Only Friend (more on that later).

What has she endured?

Roman dies during the fall of Beacon, leaving her alone.

Her response?

She vows revenge on Cinder (who forced Roman to work for her and caused the Grimm invasion so Neo blames Cinder for Roman's death) and becomes stronger in order to beat her. The first time she appears after Roman's death, she is visibly bedraggled with torn clothes. Neo fights Cinder while wearing Roman's hat in order to tell Cinder why she is fighting her (again, Neo is mute), but Cinder is too strong for her to beat. Cinder tells her Ruby is to blame for Roman's death and Neo agrees to work with Cinder in order to kill Ruby and avenge Roman. She also continues to wear Roman's hat.

Is she a jerk? Any jerk moves?

Like Mercury, Neo is a sadist and takes glee in what she does (i.e. defeating and hurting people). She is often smirking as she's about to kill someone or hurt them, such as when she's about to kill an unconscious Yang, or when she kicks the combatant she defeated during the Vytal Festival in the face. She is smug whenever she is stronger than an opponent (ex: Yang and Ruby) and beats them with a mocking smirk, but runs when faced with someone stronger than she is (ex: Raven).

Verdict?

Definitely . The only reason fans "know"(?) Roman may have been her only friend and that she is alone without him is because of a few lyrics of a song that plays in the background during her fight with Cinder. Let's just say songs' canonical weight is highly debated in the fandom and leave it at that.

Neo is the type of character we know little about. I can't say more about her because we know next to nothing about her at this time. There are glimmers of a sadistic personality and deep loyalty to Roman (along with grief over his death and a desire to avenge him) but that is all. No backstory, has debatable motives, debatable feelings and reactions, no clue why she was so loyal to Roman, no idea why she's mute (if there is a reason), no idea if she's working with Cinder to kill Ruby or if she plans to stab Cinder in the back, nothing.

Cut Neo, though if we ever learn her backstory and it is tragic enough, she may need to be reevaluated again. Right now we only have speculation and implications to go on.

Edited by EmeraldSky on Feb 21st 2019 at 3:58:31 AM

Neo

Those who still sympathize with her can take those feelings to the grave at this moment.

Neo.

Then again, this trope is YMMV for a reason.