Draco in Leather Pants/Western Animation: Difference between revisions

** Some of the characters did have genuinely sympathetic reasons for their actions, insane or not--Verminusnot—Verminus Scum is a mutant rat-man who, basically, wants to make more of his own kind and his method of doing so is, for obvious reasons, not deadly just devastating to the environment; Duke Nukem was, according to some throwaway dialogue, a scientist whose experiments turned him into a monster and has to pollute his environment just to live.

*** Same with ''[[Beast Wars]]''; technically, the Predacons ''are'' an oppressed minority on a "peaceful" Cybertron kept in the paranoid grip of the just-as-atrocious Maximal Elders, but their role is more akin to between-World Wars Germany, with Megatron and his troupe attempting to get them to [[Putting on the Reich|put on the Reich]]. Like the ''Animated'' Decepticons, this goes unnoticed by fans, blinded by Beast!Megatron's [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastardry]]ry, Tarantula's [[Mad Scientist|delightful craziness]], Waspinator's [[Butt Monkey]]-ness...

** Part of the Decepticons' popularity for this in [[Transformers Generation 1]] may be due to the fact that they are officially a species created to be sold as living weapons -- theweapons—the purpose of their species literally is to fight. Thusly, some might argue that they don't really have a function outside of conquest and war.

*** G1 Autobots, on the other hand, tend to get [[Ron the Death Eater]] treatment much less than the Decepticons get the [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment. Probably because they are also stated to have been created as consumer goods -- theygoods—they're literally a race of artists, builders, designers, workers -- andworkers—and so even if one can excuse the Decepticons for going on a rampage because that was what they were made for, one is still harder pressed to ignore the fact that their primary target is basically picking on an entire race of natural civilians.

*** Starscream's usual [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment is taken [[Up to Eleven]] in ''Prime''. Because of his skinny physique and how badly he tends to get punished, fangirls are quick to paint him as a [[Jerkass Woobie]] and some even write [[Hurt /Comfort Fic|Hurt Comfort Fics]]s that ship him with his [[Arch Enemy]] [[The Lancer|Arcee]], glossing over the many [[Kick the Dog|dogs he's kicked]]; said dog-kicking includes killing Cliffjumper and throwing his death in the other Autobots' faces whenever he can, threatening Miko in front of an immobile Bulkhead, and taunting a (then) T-cog-less Bumblebee about his inability to transform while holding said T-cog at gunpoint right in front of Bumblebee.

* Scarab from the morning cartoon series ''[[Mummies Alive]]''. Never mind that he was something like a cross between [[The Simpsons (animation)|Mr. Burns]] and [[Thundercats|Mumm-Ra]]; [[Fanfic]] still has him suavely boinking [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]]s and the heroes of the show alike. Considering that relatively few people even remember the show, the sheer amount of [[Slash Fic]] it generates around an aging [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] who powers up into an insectile monstrosity is rather disturbing.

** A possibly more rational alternative is the sentiment of fans who would rather ''be in'' the Brotherhood (assuming they were mutants, of course). A standard element to the plot of most X-Men adaptations is that any mutant who wants to use his powers for good is going to face an uphill battle, because much of humanity will hate him regardless. The Brotherhood thus can be seen as the way for people to abide by [[The Caligula|Caligula's philosophy]]--if—if you're going to be hated no matter what you do; the least you can do is become feared. The Brotherhood at least stick up for each other, and would almost certainly help a member get revenge on anyone who persecuted him.

* Norm from ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'' gets this bad. He's often portrayed as [[The Woobie]], locked up in his lamp and was forced to serve several masters like Timmy. This is ignoring the fact that he is a [[Card-Carrying Villain]] [[Jerkass]] and such a [[Jackass Genie]] that he was that page's picture. Also, he had to sell Timmy (who was originally apathetic toward Norm) on the prospect of having a genie, and the fact that he plans to destroy [[Canada, Eh?]] once he's free should erode his sympathy.

** Some might consider Mai and Ty Lee this, as they are (at least in Ty Lee's case) likable [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]]s. To an extent, Iroh could be one as well, as he led many military campaigns for the Fire Nation before he reformed himself. This is even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] by Zuko:

** Discord iswas [[Vile Villain Saccharine Show|the single worst villain in the series]], plunging Equestria into a [[World Gone Mad]]/[[World of Chaos]] and ''[[Brainwashed|brainwashing]] the Mane Six'' to turn them against each other, [[Manipulative Bastard|ensuring they won't be able to use the Elements of Harmony again him]] (and [[For the Evulz|for his own entertainment]]). Regardless, being a [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[The Trickster|Trickster]] led many fans to depict him as a cheerful prankster who just wants a bit of fun in an [[Painting the Frost on Windows|overly-managed world]], forgetting that he's actually a nasty piece of work.

*** He also manages to get this ''during his actual appearances''. Despite Celestia's warnings and the seriousness with which she and the other ponies treat his return, Pinkie Pie was ecstatic about eternal chaos coming with things like chocolate rain and cotton candy clouds, and until she was [[Mind Rape|Mind Raped]]d herself, she seemed to think that this [[God of Evil]] was just a big party animal.

*** Characterization marches on. As of the end of season 4 Discord has face turned, fallen to evil again, face turned ''again'', and this time it seems very likely to ''stick'' (among other things, the entire plot point with the Tree of Harmony in the s4 finale would not have worked had Discord not meant what he said about friendship with utter sincerity). Meanwhile, the franchise has introduced villains who actually ''were'' worse, such as Tirek -- whoTirek—who is incidentally not only the villain that lures a conflicted Discord back to the Dark Side temporarily, but then plays him like a fiddle, uses him up, and throws him away. (In an aversion of this trope, nobody's making any leather pants for Tirek. Of course, being the Gen 4 version of the very original MLP villain and the original Satanic Archetype of the franchise, as well as a guy who makes Darkseid look positively fluffy, doing so would be quite an undertaking.)

* Hexxus, the Spirit of Destruction and pollution embodied in ''[[Ferngully the Last Rainforest]]'' gets this (similarly to the ''Captain Planet'' examples above), even though he's trying to level a rainforest full of plant and animal life as well as sentient fairies that depend on its existance to survive. It doesn't help that the movie is [[Anvilicious]], the protagonists (save maybe for [[Crazy Awesome|Batty]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|Koda]]) are bland and rather uninteresting, and Hexxus himself is voiced by [[Tim Curry]], with all the implications this entails. And he gets one of the best [[Villain Song|Villain Songs]]s of all times.

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