Designated Monkey: Difference between revisions

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** Or they may feel they deserve the treatment even if they resent it - but canon makes it clear (possibly by accident) that they feel they'd deserve anything that happens.
** If they are repentant, they'll seek to rectify the situation and regain their "rightful place" in society. They will fail.
* They may become [[The Unfavourite]] not only of a parental figure, but also of over half of the main cast. Either [[Values Dissonance]] or [[Misaimed Fandom]] will be involved when this happens to a '''Designated Monkey'''. Expect comments like [[You Should Have Died Instead]] aimed at this character.
** They may have a killer [[Freudian Excuse]] that the author didn't realize counted.
** They might be a [[Jerkass Woobie]] in disguise.
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{{examples}}
 
== [[Advertising]] ==
* The Trix Rabbit. Is it so much to ask to let the cute rabbit have some cereal? He's tried hard enough, hasn't he? Now, try to find someone except the ad creators who doesn't think he deserves it.
** They actually conducted a survey asking America if he should be allowed to get any. ''Twice''. Voters said yes both times.
*** Once, he actually just went out and ''bought some'', with his own money. Then some kids came along and took it away, apparently just because they're assholes.
*** Another commercial has the Rabbit win a box of it in a figure skating contest. Sure enough, the kids come by and take his Trix AND''and'' the trophy he won (even though he entered the contest and competed fair and square).
* A number of mascots are designated monkeys in this regard (see also [[Cereal Vice Reward]]). Lucky the Leprechaun always has kids steal his Lucky Charms (go buy some, you brats!); Sonny always goes cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, and the Quik rabbit always loses his self-control when Nestle Quik is involved. Clearly, advertising agencies are sadistic.
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Yamcha was already something of a [[Butt Monkey]] before in Dragonball''[[Dragon Ball]]'', but DBZ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' took it up to practically [[Deus Angst Machina]] levels. He had the most humiliating losses and deaths, realized that [[Can't Catch Up|he will never become strong]], lost his girlfriend of two decades to his own killer, never found anyone else, and was a old Vagabond in his last appearance. Almost makes you think [[Akira Toriyama|the author]] had something against him.
* Takagi from ''[[Detective Conan]]''.
* Sasazuka from ''[[Ichigo Mashimaro]]''.
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*** The intention was clearly to lampoon his beating up Guy Gardner, however; Guy was present and [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] it himself.
* [[Frank Miller]]'s treatment of [[Superman]] is up there with Johns' efforts on [[Batman]]. How many times does Big Blue have to come out looking like a complete moron, anyway? He treats them both as idiots in ''All-Star Batman And Robin'', though. ''ASBAR'', is, however, quite possibly a [[Stealth Parody]] (or so everyone hopes).
** And when Supes isn't written as an outright moron, he's a pathetic pawn of the government. Not to mention Miller's complete dismissal of Green Lantern as being a pathetic hero. One issue of ''ASBAR'' had Dick Grayson, [[Memetic Mutation|age 12]], steal Hal's ring and give him a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]. Many fans assume that this was Miller's [[Take That]] for the aforementioned [[Geoff Johns]] example.
*** Miller seems to give [[Plastic Man]] a fair amount of respect from Batman himself in ''[[The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]'', though. "He could kill us all... For him, it'd be '''easy'''..." This is surprising since other writers have used Plas as a [[Butt Monkey]] for comedic purposes,
* Dave Sim did this a lot as ''[[Cerebus]]'' went on. It tied in with his [[Creator Breakdown]]. Due to his rising misogyny, he hated pretty much all his female characters and generally wrote them out to replace them with [[Straw Feminist]] shrews. This, however, is nothing compared to the titlular character. A good part of one trade paperback is devoted to Dave directly addressing said character and explaining to him what an asshole he is and how totally unfit he is for human company. Pretty much the entire comic from that point on (about 100 issues or so, depending on where you think this begins) details Cerebus' slow and gradual self-destruction.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Mundungus Fletcher from ''[[Harry Potter]]'' is portrayed as oddly unsympathetic despite the relatively minor nature of his crimes.
** Malfoy.
** He's a coward among brave men, and a thief among heroes. He might not be the worst criminal of all time, but his behavior can get quite annoying (and is, well, illegal). Well, [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|the heroes get away with a lot]], yes, but this man in particular does nothing to compensate for his misdeeds and gets counted with the heroes. Hell - he even calls them irrational.
** There's also that one of his 'minor' acts of evil ultimately cost the Trio their safe house and arguably delayed the destruction of Voldemort by months. How much trouble could have been avoided if he ''hadn't'' stolen the locket horcrux and sold it to Umbridge?
** His cowardice also cost the heroes the lives of one of their own - Mad-Eye Moody - at a time when they ''really'' could have used him.
* Marcus Brutus in Colleen McCullough's ''Masters of Rome'' series of historical novels. He isn't a Butt Monkey or Chew Toy because he is a historical figure, but the writer goes out of her way to show her disdain for him. Brutus is portrayed in a deeply unsympathetic way as a coward, completely under the heel of his mother, a boring pseudointellectual, and both miserly and greedy when it comes to money. He is allowed a few moments of likability but is otherwise entirely contemptible, largely because of his role in killing Julius Caesar (who is essentially a [[Canon Sue]] in McCullough's novels).
* ''Finding Judas'' states, "The original Judas Iscariot is often considered to have had unselfish intentions; perhaps he wanted to goad Jesus into all-out war with the Romans to liberate the Jews. And the apocryphal Gnostic Gospel of Judas actually claims that Jesus ordered him to do it." Yet traditionally, Judas is one of the most hated figures in Christendom. [[The Bible]] doesn't say what ''finally'' happened to any specific apostle (or ex-apostle) except Judas.
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** Not, of course, that it stops him from being kicked around more and more over the course of the series. ''[[Butt Monkey|All]]'' the time. [[The Woobie|Poor Harry]]. [[Being Good Sucks]].
** Lampshaded to a ridiculous extent in the RPG, to the point where it's the explanation for a mechanic. You get fate points whenever roleplaying gets your character in trouble, which you need to use to help you along.
* In ''[[Twilight]]'', the character Leah Clearwater was punished by being rendered infertile, for being bitter about her fiance being brainwashed into falling in love with her cousin. And for being [[Protagonist-Centered Morality|nasty to the]] main character, Bella Swan. However, she remains one of the most sensible and likeable characters on the show, and a vast majority of the anti-fanbase cheers her on and supports her.
** Similarly, Rosalie Hale was rendered infertile, for being jealous of the main character and for once being attracted to the male lead. She was redeemed in the third book, where she reveals that she has an obsession about babies, and is willing to become a baby-sitter for free for Bella, because that was her ultimate ambition as a human. Before this was revealed, Rosalie was one of the most popular Cullens, and was very popular with the anti-fanbase, as well.
 
== [[Live -Action TV]] ==
* Ross Geller from ''[[Friends]]''.
* The titular character of ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' became this trope more and more as the show went on. His wife, Debra, sometimes got this treatment at the hands of Marie, but at least in those cases, the show made it clear that the audience was supposed to side with Debra over Marie. When Ray became the Designated Monkey at ''Debra's'' hands, it was often for very shoddy reasons, yet it seemed like the show wanted the audience to root for Debra (at the very least, the studio audience seemed to be rooting for her, even when she made Ray a [[Butt Monkey]]).
* Colin Mochrie from ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?|Whose Line Is It Anyway]]'' is an unusual example due to the fact he is absolutely capable of defending himself against both the writers, the comedians [[And ZoidburgZoidberg|and Drew Carey]]. Several times when he's the butt of a joke, a percentage of the audience will cry out in favour of him and he'll often act innocent to get more sympathy.
* J.D. from ''[[Scrubs]]'' became this in season six. The writers put him through an incredible amount of torment (losing his girlfriend, losing his unborn baby, becoming homeless, getting a DUI on a technicality, and getting a disease that causes him to pass out frequently, which is to say nothing of the innumerable times he's been tormented and abused by people around him) and made it very clear that they had no sympathy for his plight (the storyline ends with him learning to not complain so much to his jerkass friends). This reached breaking point when the season ended with the girlfriend who left him revealing she lied about the miscarriage to escape their relationship and the show playing it entirely on HER side, admonishing J.D. for being rightfully spiteful. Needless to say, this was when a lot of fans, including this troper, abandoned the series.
* From her introduction, Faith in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' is this. A seemingly cool character who steals Buffy's friends, tries to take over her role as slayer, [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|and sneaks her food.]] It turns out Faith's life sucks which she covers up through sex and partying, in contrast to Buffy's better upbringing. She correctly feels she never fits in, then tries to kill Angel, thinking he was evil. This causes such a rift that Faith is very much on the outside.
** She then sleeps with Xander, the resident [[Butt Monkey]], and at the time it's [[Played for Laughs]] before Willow finds out and it's [[Played for Drama]]. When Xander tries to help Faith after she accidently kills someone [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)|it]] becomes [[Nightmare Fuel]]. During this time Faith becomes evil, not just evil but frightening. The writers have her commit one evil act after another to portray her as a vicious, sadistic character, foregoing their original plan to have Faith so distraught over what she'd done that she's [[Driven to Suicide]].
** Later on its revealed that Faith's attempt to cross the [[Moral Event Horizon]] was actually an attempt to commit [[Suicide by Cop|Suicide By Slayer (or Angel)]]. Faith is talked out of her suicidal despair by Angel, willingly goes to jail in contrition for her crimes, then this trope is averted in ''[[Angel]]'' season 4 where she returns to save the rest of the cast from Angelus and in general be completely awesome and save the day...
*** ... only to get dumped right back into this trope head-over-heels as soon as that story arc finishes and she transfers back to ''Buffy'' season 7, where despite being one of the most humane and level-headed people in the cast (at least by comparison) everything she does turns out wrong, while Buffy (who is, quite frankly, being a total [[Jerkass]] this season) has everything she does turn up roses, even to the point of 'Hey, let's repeat the exact same plan that went disastrously wrong last time, and that Faith suggested we do the opposite of this time, but have her idea completely flop and my idea unaccountably work!'
* [[Jerkass Woobie|Lucy]] [[Freudian Excuse|Payne]] from ''[[DCI Banks]]'' - possibly [[Invoked Trope|invoked]]. She's far from innocent, as her first appearance shows, {{spoiler|having helped a [[Serial Killer]] kidnapping, torturing and killing children. Her own [[Dark and Troubled Past]] may not yet convince you to find her sympathetic.}} But then there's this moment where {{spoiler|she seems to have a [[Villainous BSOD]] at the end, and you wonder whether she could make a [[Heel Face Turn]]... [[Heel Face Door Slam|NOPE!]]}} In her second - and last - appearance, it gets revealed that, {{spoiler|hardly in jail, she has gone through the worst prisoner abuse, ending in a state of [[And I Must Scream]]... and after her premature discharge (she arguably isn't a threat anymore to anyone, even at her worst wishes),}} she still receives so much hatred that {{spoiler|she gets killed, and [[No Sympathy|nobody seems interested]] in helping the police find the murderer.}} [[What a Senseless Waste of Human Life|Ouch!]]
 
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Towards the end of its original run, ''[[For Better or For Worse]]''{{'}}s April has becomebecame the Authorauthor's Unfavorite.
** And John gets attempts at character assassinations in the comic's "Reruns" in an attempt to make [[Author Avatar|Elly]] look better. Many fans don't quite agree with the author's assessment.
* ''[[Luann]]'' - [[Alpha Bitch|Tiffany]] the "popular" girl is constantly denigrated in-universe by basically everybody, all the time, even her alleged friends, and [[Word of God|out-of-universe by author Greg Evans.]] While she's certainly shallow, immature, and a ditz, she doesn't really seem any worse than [[Designated Hero]] Luann, aside from being ''openly'' self-absorbed instead of being all passive-aggressive about it...
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' the Dark Angels [[Space Marine]] Chapter are atoning for an ancient sin committed by half their brethren 10,000 years ago. In order to pursue the surviving perpetrators of this crime, they often abandon their main mission and leave other Imperial forces to be destroyed. This is considered highly suspicious behaviour and treated as a serious problem in the background material. However, almost every other Space Marine Chapter treats normal humans with total contempt too and displays signs of deviance and autonomy that are tolerated only because [[The Empire|The Imperium]] aren't in a position to do anything about it. It's not clear what makes the Dark Angels' relatively minor disobedience so awful.
** Could be [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]] in action. The "ancient sin committed by half their brethren" was to betray the Emperor and almost destroy the Legion (not yet separated into Chapters) in their own civil war while the Imperium as a whole was being torn apart by the Horus Heresy. Considering the other Legions that did so were declared heretics with orders to kill on sight, the Dark Angels justifiably fear that if the knowledge of so many of the Legion being traitors was to become widely known, they would suffer the same fate, and so their efforts to eliminate the remnants of those traitors results in erratic, unexplained behavior that makes them appear suspicious; other Space Marines Chapters follow their own agendas, but at least they're relatively open about what they're doing.
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Yoshi became this in ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'', because at some points the game requires you to drop him into a [[Bottomless Pit]] (or worse, [[Lava Pit]]) in order to jump off of him and gain enough height to reach the next platform. Also, when the player causes Yoshi to stick out his tongue (in order to eat enemies), it looks like Mario/Luigi is ''whipping'' him.
* In more light-hearted video game genres, bosses whose [[Family-Unfriendly Death|death animations are rather unsettling]] tend to get this response from some players, especially when they are not the game's [[Big Bad]], and when the violence and/or goriness of their death [[Surprise Creepy|stands out in the game]]. Made worse if they don't [[Unexplained Recovery|reappear in a later game]] of the same franchise, suggesting that you've [[Killed Off for Real|killed them off for real]]. Crocomire from [[Super Metroid]] comes to mind, as do some [[Kirby]] bosses.
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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** Boxbot, is that you? Are you trying to exact pity from these good tropers? You're an embarrassment. I'm so disappointed in you.
*** Robox is totally awesome though. Everyone loves having him around.
* [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20091231095218/http://drowtales.com/~wiki/index.php/Yafein_Val%27Sullisin%27rune Yafien] from ''[[Drowtales]]'', who is a [[Nerd]] in a world where everyone else is a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]], does what any sane, unarmed person would do when three knife-wielding, demon-possessed people go after the girl you met three seconds ago: run away. He is also one of the ''few'' characters in his [[dystopia]]n world who has never killed, raped, robbed, etc., and is viewed in-story as a treacherous coward due to [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]].
** [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20091231072020/http://drowtales.com/~wiki/index.php/Syphile Syphile] had a terrible childhood where she was put down, abused, and beaten pretty much constantly, and is guilty of abusing [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20091231105051/http://drowtales.com/~wiki/index.php/Ariel_Val%27Sarghress Ariel] and killing her kitten in a fit of rage. She was forcing Ariel to memorize a dictionary, and basically had no idea how to teach, and took out the problems on the child, who unsurprisingly grew to hate her. She does get a pretty killer [[Hannibal Lecture]], pointing this out, and Ariel simply refuses to listen. Also, she gets to give one to her own mother. {{spoiler|And promptly die, but it may have influenced said mother...}}
* There's plenty of them in ''[[Something *Positive]]'', but Kharisma, in particular, represents this. A horribly shallow, self absorbed character who has received so damn much punishment (her face being set on fire, being sent to prison for a crime she [technically] didn't commit), it is getting harder and harder to feel schadenfreude at her.
** Before his [[Character Development]] lead to him becoming a better person, Mike was treated like crap by the main cast. The fact that he was the walking incarnation of [[Fan Dumb]] often paled in comparison to the [[Comedic Sociopathy]] of the main cast, but they were inevitably [[Designated Hero|forgiven]] and he was shunned.
 
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* Strong Sad from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' is an odd case of a [[The Woobie|Woobie]] who is also a [[Butt Monkey]]: we do genuinely pity him most of the time, but that doesn't prevent us from laughing at his expense from time to time.
* [[The Nostalgia Critic]]. He ''is'' a git and does deserve what he gets most of the time, but he's an epic [[Jerkass Woobie]] and fans have said that it would be kinda nice if he actually ''won'' for a change.
* In ''[[SuperMarioGlitchy4]]'', the Koopalings may be seen as this. They [[Ensemble Darkhorse|don't appear often in the series]], but when they do, they tend to be [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]s who get on the receiving end of a [[Curb Stomp Battle]]. What's worse is that they always have a kind-of legitimate reason to go up against [[Designated Hero]] Mario, who isn't any better himself and often the ''worse'' [[Jerkass]].
** Bowser Jr. also qualifies, to a lesser extent. He has a few more appearances, not all of them being this. (Mario even ''cares'' for him once in ''R64: Son of a Bowser'', from the closely related series ''Retarded 64''.)
** In ''Bowser loses custody of his children'', it is revealed that Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings get routinely neglected by their [[Depending on the Author|(adoptive?) father]] Bowser. He also seems to favor Bowser Jr. over the rest.
** Wendy seems to get the overall harshest treatment. Just look how she gets insta-curb-stomped in ''Stupid Mario World'', and senselessly battered (and apparently killed) by [[Designated Hero]] {{spoiler|Meggy}} in ''The Mario Mafia''.
** Melony qualifies in ''Mario has a BBQ but he's not invited'', which is just after her [[Shape Shifter|transformation]] from a sentinent water melon to a human. Nobody really empathizes with her. After spending her time trapped in the body of a fruit, she [[Berserk Button|goes Berserk]] whenever anyone tries to cut or eat fruit in her presence, as she assumes they are sentinent "friends". Of course, nobody cares for this, and everyone just wonders when she [[Unstoppable Rage|goes postal]] for "no reason", instead she gets fought off and framed as a [[Designated Villain]].
*** She [[Throw the Dog a Bone|got better]] since then - in one later sequel she even [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|becomes]] [[A God Am I|a deity]]. No comparison to poor Wendy O. Koopa above, so far.
* The above happens to the Koopalings in other fan works, too. For example, ''[[ericfortesTV]]'' has an episode called ''Bowser's beach vacation'' where Bowser, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings are having fun at the beach of a remote island while Bowser is planning to destroy that beach later in order to build a port for his new [[The Empire|Empire]]. In the middle of it, Mario suddenly appears, destroys Bowser's airships and then attacks him and his family, although [[Designated Villain|they haven't done anything wrong]] ''yet''. While trying to defeat Mario, the Koopalings accidentally knock each other over, and when Mario receives a Mega Mushroom by chance, they are finally ripe for a [[Curb Stomp Battle]]. After defeating the whole Koopa family, Mario relaxes on the beach, saying "That was a lot of fun!". This episode got many comments about [[Designated Hero|"Mario being such a jerk"]] because the Koopalings "haven't done anything yet". Especially [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|Larry]] quickly became [[The Woobie]] because he didn't do anything except building sand castles that got destroyed again and again.
** Interestingly, these responses seem to have sparked several later episodes where the Koopalings are major characters, including ''The Larry Network'', where Larry becomes a [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]], and a scene of [[Revenge Fic]] where Bowser ruins Mario's and Luigi's holidays.
* ''[[Darwin Awards]]'': All publicly announced winners and almost-winners may be considered [[Real Life]] examples of the Designated Monkey. (With some possible exceptions, depending on your viewpoint.) After all, they have made [[What an Idiot!|a few grotesque misjudgements]] which have led to their death or (self-)mutilation, and then they get framed in public as being a general waste of life. Although it's humorous, one can be certain that [[Poe's Law|not everybody involved will understand it this way]]. Most "winners" are dead, so they naturally can no longer defend against [[Clear My Name|a bad reputation]], and those who are still alive are often crippled as a consequence of their [[Idiot Ball]], and ridiculing them in public is basically [[Kick Them While They Are Down]]. There is even more [[Fridge Horror]] when you think about mourning friends and relatives who [[Actually Pretty Funny|may or]] [[Dude, Not Funny|may not]] find this funny, and how the organizers behind the website want to rule out mental illness in their "candidates". (In theory, serious mental illness at the time of the incident is a disqualifier, but in some cases this is hard to prove or disprove.)
** There is a heavy dose of [[Your Mileage May Vary]] in this example.
** Not to forget, there are actually a few people who [[No Such Thing as Bad Publicity|strive for getting a DA]]. Possible that some survivors have ''nominated themselves''. In this case, it becomes hard to really pity them. (Although it could be argued that this would be ''the ultimate'' act of stupidity.)
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Donald Duck]] is often portrayed as a [[Jerkass]] who deserves his bad luck, but clearlysometimes, he obviously didn't do anything wrong. Clearly, this is [[Played for Laughs]].
** Which is why the Italians created his vindicator/superhero secret identity: Paperinik.
* Similarly, Daffy Duck of ''[[Looney Tunes]]''; for the most part, Daffy does deserve what he gets, because of his jealousy and his [[Screwy Squirrel|undiscriminating screwyness]]. It is still very much played for laughs, though, and in some cases, it definitely seems like he's being unjustly punished (as in ''Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century'' or ''My Little Duckeroo'', where he was actually on the losing end against a villain).
** A lot of Daffy's sympathy may have arisen from his [[Characterization Marches On|rather different persona beforehand]].
** Daffy, and the large majority of ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' antagonists for that matter, may often seem to invoke this due to their often [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|pitiful malice]] which proves little challenge for protagonists such as Bugs and Speedy, thus the horrible pain they endure seems somewhat [[Disproportionate Retribution|disproportionate]] to what little provocation they make, no matter how cruel their intentions were (it's obvious who was meant to be the most sympathetic character between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner).
*** [[Too Dumb to Live|Elmer Fudd]] was actually an example self -confessed by director Friz Freleng, who was convinced that Bugs looked too much of a 'bully' when pitted against him and thus made him into a more pro-active hero against the meaner-spirited outlaw, Yosemite Sam.
*** [[Cats Are Mean|Sylvester]] may be another key example, given that his intentions were usually never outside the natural instincts of a normal cat. The repeated physical and verbal assaults he received for trying to eat 'a sweet, innocent, little bird' [[Values Dissonance|and the equally brutal punishment he received for failing to do the same to a mouse]] (though granted, Sylvester was often placed in [[Butt Monkey]] roles, be it provoked or not) certainly didn't help.
* Due to the ([[Kafka Komedy|hilariously]]) warped moral perspective on ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', [[Jerkass|Master Shake]] is both a Designated Monkey ''and'' a [[Karma Houdini]]. When Shake is actively being a jerk and hurting people, he tends to get away with it. But his biggest [[Humiliation Conga]]s come from his well-intentioned ([[Cloudcuckoolander|for him, anyway]]) stupidity and/or him being an unrelated victim.
* Meg Griffin of ''[[Family Guy]]'' seems to be a somewhat intentional example - often abused, ignored, or mocked by EVERYONE''everyone'' in the show's universe for little known reason, especially as the [[Comedic Sociopathy]] humor in the series increased, with [[Out-of-Character Moment|even straight men like Lois and Brian acting equally callous to Meg]], as well as [[Jerkass]] characters like Peter (though granted, this may not be as emphasised in later seasons, where [[Flanderization]] has led nearly every character to become [[Sadist Show|sociopathic and self -centered]] with Meg's abuse actually seeming petty to that invoked and suffered by most of the cast). [[Broken Base|The fanbase seems divided]] as to whether Meg's treatment is hilarious or outright cruel.
** Something interesting about ''[[Family Guy]]'', though, is that the writers actually seem to care what the [[Vocal Minority]] thinks. At the peak of the fan base's frustration over Meg's [[Comedic Sociopathy]] treatment, they [[Throw the Dog a Bone|Threw The Dog A Bone]] with [[A Day in the Limelight|"Dial Meg for Murder"]], a definite [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. When we were facepalming over Brian's [[Author Filibuster]] [[Only Sane Man]] treatment as seen in ''Not All Dogs Go To Heaven'' and ''I Dream of Jesus'', Quagmire (of all people) put Brian in his place in ''Jerome is the New Black'', delivering an epic [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] about how greedy, narcissistic, hypocritical, shallow, selfish, and boring Brian is/has become. Both episodes are [[Pandering to the Base]] done right.
** And then, afterwards, fans began to complain that Brian's own [[Butt Monkey]] treatment was taken too far instead.
*** It should be noted that Quagmire's [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]] was the only time he has antagonized Brian for [[Take That, Scrappy!|valid, stated reasons]], rather than something formed from [[Kafka Komedy]] or [[Comedic Sociopathy]] (eg. his disturbingly graphic [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] for accidentally sleeping with his male-to-female transsexual father). Brain's treatment from the other characters is on similar grounds, especially since, even with his own flaws considered, they are far more [[Jerkass|callous characters]] than he is ([[Karma Houdini|and get away with it]] [[Jerk Sue|much more in addition]]). Similar to Meg's [[Butt Monkey]] treatment, after being considered a boring character, writers can't seem to make a character sympathetic without [[Took a Level in Jerkass|making another unlikeable in the process]].
*** However, in the recent season 9 episodes, Brian pretty much [[Took a Level in Jerkass]], and not in a [[Jerk Sue]] way (other characters (besides Quagmire) [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] how irritating and annoying Brian can be), so at this point, what the writers want to do with Brian is pretty much a mystery.
* Tommy Pickles from ''[[All Grown Up!]]'' becomes this in his preteen years, whenever his friends make him the scapegoat of their fury, whenever they're in a tight situation. This is done episodes like "Truth or Consequences", "Dude, Where's My Horse?", "All Broke Up", and "Brothers Grimm"
** In "All Broke Up", Tommy especially gets the bitter end of this where not only are his friends mad at him for lying to them, but when both Rachel (his girlfriend who had just moved away) and Anita (a girl who Tommy met a few days ago) shows at the same time, both of them reject Tommy, publicly humiliating him in front of everyone and breaking his heart.
* Henry of ''[[Ka BlamKaBlam!|Ka Blam]]!'' fits this trope to a T. He's often getting hurt for no apparent reason, though only two people in the show seem to care about him (his over-doting mom and his best friend/secret admirer June on some occasions).
* [[Meaningful Name|Mr. Bump]] from ''The [[The Mr. Men]] Show]]'' is pretty much this.
* Plankton from ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' is becoming one of these, largely due to his increasingly pitiful malice and his adversary Mr. Krabs [[Took a Level in Jerkass|becoming almost as callous]] and even reverting to [[Designated Hero|torturing Plankton unprovoked in a similar fashion]].
** He and Squidward both, ever since [[The Movie]]. At first they were [[Jerkass]]es that often [[Laser-Guided Karma|brought their bad luck on themselves]], now it seems that [[Comedic Sociopathy|the world is genuinely out to get them]].
* Pete in ''[[Goof Troop]]''. His character has always been a villiainvillain or an antagonist, but the more "mundane" setting of the show means that he's more of a petty [[Jerkass]] than truly evil, which makes the usually over-the-top abuse he receives seem a little out of proportion a lot of the time. And then there are the times when he ''[[Chew Toy|didn't do anything]]''.
* Ezekiel from ''[[Total Drama World Tour]].'' Apparently, [[Ambition Is Evil|being really determined to win]] qualifies him to devolve into [[The Lord of the Rings|Gollum]].
* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|Fifi]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse|LaFume]] from ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', who usually gets abused for no reason and is usually ignored by all of the other characters. Just look at how she gets treated in [[Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation|the movie]]!
* Scrat from the ''[[Ice Age]]'' movies. He's an intentional [[Butt Monkey]], but sometimes his [[Comedic Sociopathy|endless bad luck]] is outright painful, given that all he wants is a few hazelnuts and a safe place to bury them.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Designated Monkey{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Loser Archetype]]
[[Category:No One Respects the Spanish Inquisition]]
[[Category:Designated Monkey]]