Alas, Poor Scrappy: Difference between revisions

** Yuna Roma Seiran in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]''. Yeah, he suffered [[Villain Decay]] after a ''very'' promising start as a [[Manipulative Bastard]], but [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|getting a GOUF literally dropped on him?]]. That's just ''mean''.

*** Also, Meer Campbell perishes by [[Taking the Bullet]] meant for Lacus Clyne, the woman she's impersonated for months, and a good part of the hate she got for [[Die for Our Ship|being a membress of Athrun Zala]]'s [[Unwanted Harem]] *poofed*. It doesn't help that her death scene was ''[[Dying Moment of Awesome|very]]'' [[Tear Jerker|well-done]].

*** It should be noted that ''Hathaway's Flash'' plays off of the ''Char's Counterattack'' novelization "Beltorchika's Children" rather than the anime movie<ref>The main difference being that in the novel, Hathaway kills Quess; in the movie, Hathaway goes nuts and kills Chein after she kills Quess</ref>. And just to twist the knife further, after his death, Hathaway speaks to Quess's spirit, and she says she never loved him. So he fought and died for nothing. That's just cruel.

** For some, Ghinias Saharin from [[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]. [[Base Breaker|It REALLY depends on who you're talking to, however.]]

** At the very least, she somehow comes back to life in the epilogue [[Bandage Babe|mostly]] unharmed.

* An in-universe example (that is not [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]) happens in ''[[Seto no Hanayome]]''. San's [[Overprotective Dad]] is initially overjoyed when her fiance ends up in a [[Shotgun Wedding]] with another girl, only to realize that Nagasumi was actually a genuinely [[Nice Guy]]. Naturally, when things [[Status Quo Is God|go back to normal]], he goes right back to trying to kill the guy.

** Not a death, but what befalls Momo Hinamori soon after this is this, [[Americans Hate Tingle|at least in the western fanbase.]] She's not only impaled and nearly killed because of Aizen again, but this time, it's her childhood best friend and effective adoptive brother who's holding the sword, after Aizen uses his illusions to make him (and everyone else) see Momo as him.

* Not a straight-up death example, but it happens in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]''. At the end of the Hoenn [[Story Arc]], after Ash announces he's going to the Sinnoh League, May announces she's going to explore Kanto and compete in the various Pokémon Contests. ''Alone''. Her little brother, Max, [[The Scrappy]] [[Insufferable Genius]], is really put off by this, feeling like his sister is abandoning him. Sure, Max might have been irritating, but the way May told him to go home came off as a ''real'' dick move, and it's hard not to feel sorry for the kid.

 

== Comic Books ==

** 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.

** Made even worse by the fact that [[The Joker]] doesn't even brag [[But for Me It Was Tuesday|or make a big deal out of it]]; [[For the Evulz|it was just something he felt like doing.]]

{{quote|'''Joker:''' When I say that you and your girlfriend was [[Nothing Personal]], you know that I'm telling the truth.}}

 

 

** This likely applies to Tracy now as well. Unless she's not really dead...

** This very much applied to Elle. With all the stupid writing going on in that time, she got the brunt of the blows. However, many were displeased when she was killed by Sylar. The fact that her death was rather pointless and she died as a shell of her former self might've had something to do with it though.

* A lot of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' fans who couldn't stand Bela. Many of them felt a staggering amount of sympathy for her in the episode where the hellhounds come to get her. It might have helped that the actress got better and less annoying in her absence.

** And then there's Jo and Ellen Harvelle, the former of whom was positively reviled during her S2 days and the latter of whom was perceived to overstep her boundaries with the boys later on, and they were given one of the [[Senseless Sacrifice|saddest send-offs in the show]].

'''Taub:''' Did we?

'''Foreman:''' We do now. }}

** As an example of when this ''doesn't'' work, [[House (TV series)|Thirteen]] is considered the [[Creator's Pet]] by most of the fandom. She also has Huntington's Disease. This means that in addition to the time she spends on-screen as a doctor, she's also appearing as a patient, [[Sympathetic Sue|slowly dying with nothing that can be done about it]]. This has so far failed to gain her much sympathy.

* Kendra in Season 2 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Sure she was an annoying character with more than a little shade of the [[Ethnic Scrappy]], but it was still a bit of a shock to see Drusilla take her out so ''easily''.

* Joxer from ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' made a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] for the woman he loved, which made many fans rethink their hatred of him. However, [[Senseless Sacrifice|his sacrifice was in vain and achieved nothing]]. And Gabrielle, the woman he '''died''' for, didn't even seem that upset!

* Jessica Wallace on ''[[Neighbours]]'', hated by many viewers and most of the other characters for breaking up Ringo and Rachel, had such a realistic and tragic death scene that producers deemed it "too convincing" and had to edit some of the most upsetting parts out.

* Riley from ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' went from becoming [[The Scrappy]] in record time to getting [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] when we found out she was from the future (and thus actually served a purpose on the show besides giving John someone to suck face with); much of the fanbase mourned her death after discovering just how much her supposed savior screwed her over. Going out in a brutal fight to finally take control of her life, all in less than one season, probably helped.

* [[Ethnic Scrappy|Alexandra Borgia]] of ''[[Law & Order|Law and Order]]'', due mostly to the ''extremely'' brutal [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|bridge dropping]] she received.

** From the same show, violent townie Shane was probably the least likable character on the entire series. So how does he go out? Mortally wounded, single-handedly taking on the serial killer to give the heroes enough time to escape.

* The ending scene of ''[[Blackadder]]'', "Goodbyeee!", where Captain Darling, supercilious little toad that he has been, suddenly becomes very human and even likable. And he dies five minutes later.

** [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Then it got uncanceled and got a release date.]]

** [[Tainted by the Preview|Then it]] [[It Got Worse|got released.]]

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', Hammer the Supplier was reviled by many a fan as annoying and [[Heel Face Turn|backstabbing]], but most of that could be forgiven not only because he's gone, but because it's so obvious just how much other characters [[Tear Jerker|miss him]], especially Rico and Elly.

* In ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', it's revealed that Luvbi is the last [[MacGuffin Girl|Pure Heart]]. Nobody was really fond of her before this, but the scene is still very moving and the characters are sorry to see her go.

== Webcomics ==

* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0464.html Miko's] death in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''. It's ''still'' debated on the forums whether or not she deserved it. Two prevailing opinions are:

## She becomes sympathetic in the eyes of the audience because her last actions were made under the belief that she was saving everyone instead of dooming her side to exile, and then after being mortally wounded as a result, the spirit of the founder of her order explains to her just how she screwed up and tells her that she won't get a chance at true redemption, but that her celestial horse will still get to visit her in the afterlife. [[Tear Jerker|* Sniff* ]] And in a 'verse where it has been proven that [[Death Is Cheap]], she was decided by the author to be so unworthy of resurrection and redemption that any chance of it happening is rendered moot in a throwaway gag.

** Not to drive the point home, but another aspect of the death that turns it into a touching moment is her last words. Miko was, above all else, uncompromising. She would never accept anything but the most pristine of Lawful Good, would go over the top with her expectations and would scream and cry whenever she did not get her way. Yet here, in her last moments, she was denied the thing she wanted the most, being a paladin. When that happens, she shows a final bit of character development when instead of crying about it, she instead just asks if she will see her only real companion again. And when given just that small favor, instead of screaming about what she really wanted, showed maturity in compromising for that one little bit, by saying "I can live with that." In her last moments she learns to compromise what she wants.

*** Of course some think she might just have been driven a tiny bit insane by the revelation that said cool old guy mentor and father figure who personally recruited her into the order of paladins had been lying and manipulating her (for the great good but still that has to be like finding out your prudish judgmental grand mother has a hot 18 year old boy toy.) resulting in her paranoid delusions but this party is just less vocal about their opinion.

* [http://blipcomic.com/752/ Terry's death] in ''[[Blip]]''. Up until then, most of the fans had hated her for breaking up K and Bishop, but when she died, they lost it. It helps that her death scene was a straight-up [[Tear Jerker]].

* ''[[College Roomies from Hell]]'' had this coming from Dave. It failed spectacularly, because no one realised that Dave was meant to be [[The Scrappy]]. Quite the contrary, he became one of the most popular characters, so the author had no choice but to bring him back and actually make him a protagonist.

* The Magus in the ''[[Gargoyles]]'' three-parter "Avalon". It helps that he just [[Took a Level In Badass]].

** And he finally overcame his [[Fantastic Racism]] long enough to pull a [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

* In ''[[Total Drama Island]]'', [[Creator's Pet|Owen]] who is hated by almost all of the shows more mature fanbase, gets sympathy from some viewers when he sings "[[Tear Jerker|Oh My Izzy]]."

** [[Loony Fan|Sierra]] too to a degree, she got caught in a plane explosion (which was kinda her fault), lost her hair, all because she made a cake for Cody's birthday