Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions

** He almost revels in his second-rate status, remarking on one occasion that at least it keeps him off the radar of guys like [[The Punisher]].

** Not that this makes him particularly ''successful'':

'''Spider-Man:''' Making the Shocker look like an idiot. Which--granted--isn't ''tough'', but is ''always'' entertaining. }}

** In one story, a group of heroes are moving through a superhuman prison, vigorously expositing about the potential damage that the villain they're after could cause. In the process, they run by The Shocker's cell.

'''The Shocker, arms crossed petulantly''': "Shut up!" }}

** He's fallen to the point that he no longer appears on the local news' supervillain alerts even though ''Stilt-Man'' did. Desperate, he teams up with a similarly washed-up Hydro-Man to [[One Last Job|knock over ONE bank and retire]]. You feel pretty bad for him when Spider-Man not only stops them, but the Shocker accidentally ''evaporates'' Hydro-Man and injures himself to the point that his ''ribs are sticking out of his chest''. "You always said I looked like a pincushion..."

*** And THEN, in Son of the Pink Panther, ''Dreyfus'' gets a reboot into sympathetic, if not protagonist, at least [[The Woobie]] status, as his complete descent into [[Axe Crazy]] has apparently been [[Retcon|retconned]] out of existence and him back INTO existence. He even gets the girl {{spoiler|with the down side of now being the stepfather to his late nemesis Clouseau's long-lost son.}} Still the [[Butt Monkey]], if not the ISV.

* [[Vincent Price]] as Shelby Carpenter in ''Laura.'' This is how his ''own girlfriend'' sums him up:

* "Bowler Hat Guy" in ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]''. He becomes dramatically more sympathetic further into the movie.

* Muerte ("name for death!") in ''[[Undercover Blues]]''. Muerte's reputation on the streets is hinted at as being formidable, but his utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of Jeff Blue quickly turned him into one of these. Every lost tooth just makes him that much more lovable.

** ''[[Final Fantasy X 2|Final Fantasy X-2]]'' had Lablanc and her cronies.

* ''[[Disgaea]]'' has the Ex-Dark Adonis Vyers...

'''Mid-Boss''': M-m-mid-Boss!? }}

** {{spoiler|At least, until the best ending reveals that he's [[Luke, I Am Your Father|Laharl's father]], who, together with the Seraph, is [[Batman Gambit|responsible for most of the game's plot as an attempt to end the feuding between demons and angels]].}}

* Clubs Deuce from the Midnight Crew [[Spin-Off|Interlude]] of ''[[Homestuck]]''; note that the rest of the Midnight Crew either go under [[Complete Monster]] or [[Faux Affably Evil]], depending on your personal [[Alternate Character Interpretation]].

** In Act 5 of ''[[Homestuck]]'', Eridan is a genocidal snob who aspires to kill off all the lower-class, land-dwelling trolls. But none of his schemes ever work, no one takes him seriously, and the [http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004339 narration itself] describes him as an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]:

*** Eridan really doesn't [[Zig-Zagging Trope|count as an example]]; it's later revealed that he really doesn't care about killing people, he's just doing it to stay close to his crush.

*** Eridan becomes a full-on subversion when {{spoiler|he loses both the [[Moral Event Horizon|"sympathetic"]] and [[Not So Harmless|"ineffectual"]] parts in Act 5 Act 2. The crush mentioned in the above line? He killed her as he leapt across the [[Moral Event Horizon]].}}

* Lee Phillips from ''[[Kate Modern]]'', during his brief time as a villain. He is perfectly serious in his plot to [[Who's Laughing Now?|revenge himself]] on Gavin and Tariq, but is overshadowed by the arrival of far more threatening antagonists such as Kate's Watcher and Terrence.

* Voldemort in ''[[Potter Puppet Pals]]''. Taken to ridiculous extremes when Harry has Hagrid beating up every character that bothers him. Voldemort tries to kill Harry, and Harry just leaves without even bothering to have him knocked out.

'''Voldemort''': Every time I try to kill him... }}

* [[The Spoony Experiment|Dr. Insano]]...[[Beware the Silly Ones|some]][[Not So Harmless|times.]]

** Also from [[Batman: The Animated Series|TAS]], Baby Doll is probably one of the most sympathetic characters in Batman's [[Rogues Gallery]]. She kidnaps her former TV co-stars, but just to yell at them for abandoning her and forcibly reenact the show. She [[Took a Level In Badass]] as time went on.

** The ''[[Superfriends]]'' incarnation of Scarecrow qualifies for this trope, as well. To quote the Legion of Doom's leader, when naming the villains' "dangerous super powers" in a [[Cartoon Network]] bump:

* The Amoeba Boys in ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''. While the Powerpuff Girls are out beating up real criminals, the poor Amoeba Boys can't get the girls' attention, despite committing [[Sarcasm Mode|heinous]] acts such as [[Poke the Poodle|littering, jaywalking, and disobeying a "Keep off the grass" sign.]]

** In one of the early World Premiere Toon shorts, the Girls actually commit a bank robbery solely to show the Boys how it's done. When the Girls are brought in for the crime, the boys turn themselves in, in an attempt to appear "big time".

** Most of the time, it seems that he just wants some manner of success. In the cruel [[Yank the Dog's Chain]] episode "Plankton's Regular", after getting just ''one'' regular customer, he immediately stops trying to steal the Krabby Patty secret formula.

*** Plankton himself [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this in one episode:

'''Plankton:''' I don't know. I never thought I'd get this far. }}

* Grizzle of ''[[Care Bears|Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]''.

** His 2002 incarnation, on the other hand, was every bit as powerful, terrifying, and evil as he claimed to be.

* Control Freak from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''. Despite being able to animate the inanimate to do his bidding and inadvertantly altering television frequencies to literally rot people's brains, he STILL didn't get on the Titans' list of main villains.

** In later seasons, Dr. Light is similarly ineffectual. Though he does get one major [[Not So Harmless]] moment.

* ''[[Word Girl]]'''s Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy.