Alas, Poor Scrappy: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|"''She's going to pull through this. We need her to pull through. Each weekly sadistic mishap helped me through some tough times, and this is just another one of those sadistic mishaps. Right? The monitor on her life support system will sound an alarm, and some nurse or other will rush in and save her. Right? Wrong. No one saves PMMS. Alleged York manages to kill her with this completely expressionless look on his face. Damn you, [[24|cheesy Fox suspense show]], for making me laugh so hard one minute and cry so hard the next! PMMS is dead. She's dead. I can't believe it.''"~~|'''Gustave''', ''[[Television Without Pity]]''}}~~

{{quote|"''She's going to pull through this. We need her to pull through. Each weekly sadistic mishap helped me through some tough times, and this is just another one of those sadistic mishaps. Right? The monitor on her life support system will sound an alarm, and some nurse or other will rush in and save her. Right? Wrong. No one saves PMMS. Alleged York manages to kill her with this completely expressionless look on his face. Damn you, [[24|cheesy Fox suspense show]], for making me laugh so hard one minute and cry so hard the next! PMMS is dead. She's dead. I can't believe it.''"

|'''Gustave''', ''[[Television Without Pity]]''}}

The [[Real Life]], TV-applied version of [[We Want Our Jerk Back]].

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== Anime and Manga ==

* From the ''[[Gundam]]'' series:

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* Doug Ramsey, a.k.a. Cypher, from the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' family comic ''New Mutants'' was considered to be [[The Scrappy]] (due to his fact that his mutant power was the ability to speak every language, which sort of paled next to eye-beams and weather-control and the like), and fans repeatedly demanded he be killed off. Once he died, everyone missed him and wanted him back.

** There's some question, however, whether or not the writers themselves over-exaggerated the sympathetic response while downplaying the hate, as a sort of manufactured [[Take That]] towards the fans. It's been suggested that the actual fan response was much more mixed, and the negative responses were simply ignored and brushed under the carpet. In a time before the Internet gave people the opportunity to publicly voice their opinions of such things, it's hard to say.

*** Cypher was also a perfect example of [[Idiot Ball]] . Not him - everyone else in the X-Men and New Mutants. Because he had a non-combat power, he wasn't given ~~NEARLY~~ as much training as the rest of the New Mutants in combat ~~skils~~. If he was going to be going along with his teammates into dangerous situations, two things should have been factored in: 1 ) Give him ~~MORE~~ combat training, probably from Wolverine himself, to turn him into a [[Badass Normal]] , and 2 ) ~~ARMOR~~, not spandex. Those few of us who actually liked the character were utterly enraged at his death.

*** Cypher was also a perfect example of [[Idiot Ball]] . Not him - everyone else in the X-Men and New Mutants. Because he had a non-combat power, he wasn't given ''nearly'' as much training as the rest of the New Mutants in combat skills. If he was going to be going along with his teammates into dangerous situations, two things should have been factored in: 1 ) Give him ''more'' combat training, probably from Wolverine himself, to turn him into a [[Badass Normal]] , and 2 ) ''armor'', not spandex. Those few of us who actually liked the character were utterly enraged at his death.

* [[Ethnic Scrappy|Vibe's]] death in the '80s ''[[Justice League of America]]'' comics: Reviled in life, a hero in death. He asphyxiated so graphically you couldn't help but feel bad for the guy just that one time.

** Steel, who died at the same time, is less remembered, probably because he was less annoying in the first place.

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== Live Action TV ==

== Live-Action TV ==

* The ''[[True Blood]]'' fandom had a massive load of hate for Sam Merlotte's [[Long-Lost Relative|troubled younger brother Tommy]], an illiterate, dumb, well-intended [[Designated Villain]] who was generally thought of as annoying, a nuisance and a filler character. In the end, though, he sacrificed himself, transforming into Sam and settling a debt with the ex-husband of Sam's girlfriend, which ended up with him being bludgeoned to death. Not before he could deliver the following line, which had tons of fans that hated him crying desperately:

{{quote|'''Tommy''': (''to Sam'') [[Tear Jerker|There ~~aint~~ no heaven, and ~~hells~~ a dog fight. I’m gonna disappear like I never was, that's what I want.]]}}

{{quote|'''Tommy''': (''to Sam'') [[Tear Jerker|There ain't no heaven, and hell's a dog fight. I’m gonna disappear like I never was, that's what I want.]]}}

* ''[[Ugly Betty]]'' may have problems with annoying characters taking over the plotlines, but it has a knack for a good [[Montage Out]], thus giving us the following examples:

** It's been said that nobody cared about Bradford Meade until he was killed off.

** Even the infamous Walter, though he didn't die, got a respectful and melancholy send off when he was [[Put on a Bus]]. The fact that viewers were able to feel anything but joy at that moment is a testament to this trope.

** Daniel's love interest of the 3rd season, Molly, was generally considered pretty boring even when we knew she was terminally ill but the actual moment of her death ''was'' beautiful.

* Tracey from the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "The Message" qualifies because he basically tries to trick the crew into smuggling him across the solar system while he's carrying (and [[Organ Theft|biologically supporting]]) genetically enhanced organs ''inside'' his body. Of course, Tracey gets shot by [[The Captain|Mal]] while trying to kidnap Kaylee and escape in one of ''Serenity'''s shuttles, which Tracey only did because he panicked when Shepherd Book [[Poor Communication Kills|talked about handing Tracey over to the corrupt cop who was chasing them for the organs]], which was only a ruse to get everyone to safety, including Tracey.

* Tracey from the ''[[Firefly]]'' episode "The Message" qualifies because he basically tries to trick the crew into smuggling him across the solar system while he's carrying (and [[Organ Theft|biologically supporting]]) genetically enhanced organs ''inside'' his body. Of course, Tracey gets shot by [[The Captain|Mal]] while trying to kidnap Kaylee and escape in one of ''Serenity''{{'}}s shuttles, which Tracey only did because he panicked when Shepherd Book [[Poor Communication Kills|talked about handing Tracey over to the corrupt cop who was chasing them for the organs]], which was only a ruse to get everyone to safety, including Tracey.

* The extremely despised Nora went out with a bang on ''[[Desperate Housewives]]''. Even though it was expected and hoped for, the episode managed to make it a tragic and shocking.

** Throughout the series, Edie Britt was a [[Love It or Hate It|Love Her Or Hate Her]] character—you either thought she was witty and not used enough, or catty and hung around the show for way too long. Yet when she actually ''was'' [[Killed Off for Real]] in season five, the people who despised her ended up mourning her death just as much as the people who loved her, especially after her tribute episode.

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** An in-universe example: Miss Evangelista in "Silence in the Library." After establishing that no one else on the expedition likes her, she winds up being the first to get chewed up by the Vashta Nerada. In her final "ghosting" moments, she asks to talk to Donna, the only person who was nice to her, instead of any of her teammates and their remorse shows on ''all'' of their faces.

* Agent Jeffrey Spender from ''[[The X-Files]]'', shot at point-blank range at the end of the first episode in which he developed any character beyond that of being an annoying, weasely foil to Mulder and Scully. He was eventually revealed to be [[Not Quite Dead]], but at the time, some people were stunned he'd gone into a two-parter practically chanting "Kill the Twerp" and came out of it really upset that they'd killed the noble Spender.

* [[Television Without Pity]] frequenters are often split on the death of Lucy Knight on ''[[ER]]'', who, though annoying, got an incredibly good sendoff. Some were ecstatic that she was gone, under any circumstances. This story arc also had John Carter almost killed, and, since many fans were on the fence with him at that point, he garnered huge sympathy points.

* ''[[Television Without Pity]]'' frequenters are often split on the death of Lucy Knight on ''[[ER]]'', who, though annoying, got an incredibly good sendoff. Some were ecstatic that she was gone, under any circumstances. This story arc also had John Carter almost killed, and, since many fans were on the fence with him at that point, he garnered huge sympathy points.

* Owen's death (deaths?) in ''[[Torchwood]]''. That was largely helped by Tosh's own exit - well-acted and really quite heartbreaking.

* Cally's death on new ''[[Battlestar Galactica ~~Reimagined~~|Battlestar Galactica]]''. She had her fans, but more than her share of detractors, as well. It was so affecting that Jacob, the [[Television Without Pity]] recapper who made a regular running gag of her, devoted most of his recap of that episode to a deep psychological analysis of her (then again, Jacob writes deep psychological treatises about his breakfast muffin, so take this with a grain of salt). A good summary of the fan reaction would be [https://web.archive.org/web/20110711022501/http://frakkingtoasters.com//index.cgi?date=20080421 this].

* Cally's death on new ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''. She had her fans, but more than her share of detractors, as well. It was so affecting that Jacob, the ''[[Television Without Pity]]'' recapper who made a regular running gag of her, devoted most of his recap of that episode to a deep psychological analysis of her (then again, Jacob writes deep psychological treatises about his breakfast muffin, so take this with a grain of salt). A good summary of the fan reaction would be [https://web.archive.org/web/20110711022501/http://frakkingtoasters.com//index.cgi?date=20080421 this].

** A lot of this has to do with the way she was offed. She was nearly [[Driven to Suicide]], talked down from it, immediately knocked unconscious by the same person who talked her down, and woke up in time to see said person holding ''Cally's own infant son'' in a maternal-looking manner. She then met Cally's gaze and ''gave a tiny smile'' before pushing the button that [[Thrown Out the Airlock|threw Cally out the airlock]]. Even for the haters, that was [[Disproportionate Retribution|a bit much.]]

*** So much, in fact, that the murderer than [[You Kill It, You Bought It|became a scrappy herself.]] She got no Alas when ''she'' was offed by the [[Laser-Guided Karma|man she made a widower]] [[Neck Snap|breaking her neck]].