Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|"[[Shoulder-Sized Dragon|Spike]], I don't know what upsets me more; that you deliberately tried to set up [[The Owl-Knowing One|Owlowiscious]], or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work!"|'''[[Unicorn|Twilight Sparkle]]''', from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' <ref>(Though really, Spike was just ''temporarily'' a villain [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1 |
{{quote|"[[Shoulder-Sized Dragon|Spike]], I don't know what upsets me more; that you deliberately tried to set up [[The Owl-Knowing One|Owlowiscious]], or that you actually thought this pathetic attempt would work!"|'''[[Unicorn|Twilight Sparkle]]''', from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' <ref>(Though really, Spike was just ''temporarily'' a villain [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1/E24 Owl's Well That Ends Well|during the episode that originated the quote.)]]</ref>}} |
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A potential villain who is consistently a failure or never gets the respect that he thinks he deserves, and may even be angry that the heroes don't take him seriously. |
A potential villain who is consistently a failure or never gets the respect that he thinks he deserves, and may even be angry that the heroes don't take him seriously. |
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* Buaku from ''[[Dominion Tank Police]]'' and his sidekicks, the Puma sisters. They've always been wannabe [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastards]], but they were slightly more competent in the manga. Granted, their failures are rarely their own fault, discounting their lack of foresight. |
* Buaku from ''[[Dominion Tank Police]]'' and his sidekicks, the Puma sisters. They've always been wannabe [[Magnificent Bastard|Magnificent Bastards]], but they were slightly more competent in the manga. Granted, their failures are rarely their own fault, discounting their lack of foresight. |
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* ''[[Heavy Metal L-Gaim]]'s'' Gavlet Gabre is a particularly jarring example. He's introduced as the primary rival, but never once defeats the protagonist, Daba Myroad. {{spoiler|During the final battle at Sveto, he fails to defeat the unimportant and generic villain Rockley Ron, which makes the later the sole villain who makes it out of the show without being captured or killed.}} |
* ''[[Heavy Metal L-Gaim]]'s'' Gavlet Gabre is a particularly jarring example. He's introduced as the primary rival, but never once defeats the protagonist, Daba Myroad. {{spoiler|During the final battle at Sveto, he fails to defeat the unimportant and generic villain Rockley Ron, which makes the later the sole villain who makes it out of the show without being captured or killed.}} |
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* In ''[[Baccano]]'', this spot is owned by Dallas Genoard, who isn't all that sympathetic, but is more than ineffectual enough to make up for it. |
* In ''[[Baccano!]]'', this spot is owned by Dallas Genoard, who isn't all that sympathetic, but is more than ineffectual enough to make up for it. |
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* Many a member from a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] in the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' anime falls into this trope. The noteworthy examples are Jadeite from the Shittenou, Ail and En from the Maikaju filler arc, Eudial and Mimette from the Witches 5, the Amazon Trio, and both Sailor Iron Mouse and Sailor Aluminum Siren from the Sailor Animamates. |
* Many a member from a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] in the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' anime falls into this trope. The noteworthy examples are Jadeite from the Shittenou, Ail and En from the Maikaju filler arc, Eudial and Mimette from the Witches 5, the Amazon Trio, and both Sailor Iron Mouse and Sailor Aluminum Siren from the Sailor Animamates. |
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* Kurumi, Kurumi, ''[[Kimi ni Todoke|Kurumi]]''. As of the end of the anime's first season, she still hasn't caught a break despite {{spoiler|confessing to Kazehaya and tearing down what was left of her fake persona}} -- or if she has, [[Out of Focus|it was offscreen]]. |
* Kurumi, Kurumi, ''[[Kimi ni Todoke|Kurumi]]''. As of the end of the anime's first season, she still hasn't caught a break despite {{spoiler|confessing to Kazehaya and tearing down what was left of her fake persona}} -- or if she has, [[Out of Focus|it was offscreen]]. |
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* [[The Simpsons (animation)|Sideshow Bob]] also frequently veers into this territory. The poor guy can't even win against a rake. |
* [[The Simpsons (animation)|Sideshow Bob]] also frequently veers into this territory. The poor guy can't even win against a rake. |
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* Waspinator from ''[[Transformers]]: [[Beast Wars]]'' is one of these, being a [[Chew Toy]] on the side of the bad guys. |
* Waspinator from ''[[Transformers]]: [[Beast Wars]]'' is one of these, being a [[Chew Toy]] on the side of the bad guys. |
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** Ditto for Sky-Byte and his [[Team Rocket]] in ''[[Transformers Robots in Disguise]]''. Except that Sky-Byte would actually be leadership material if only a few things were different. It's just that he lacked the only two qualities that really mattered for a leader: ''aptitude'' and ''intelligence''. |
** Ditto for Sky-Byte and his [[Team Rocket]] in ''[[Transformers: Robots in Disguise]]''. Except that Sky-Byte would actually be leadership material if only a few things were different. It's just that he lacked the only two qualities that really mattered for a leader: ''aptitude'' and ''intelligence''. |
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* [[Overlord, Jr.|Prince]] [[Butt Monkey|Zuko]] in the first season of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. The second season puts him in [[Anti-Villain]] status, with him and his Uncle spending more time being fugitives from [[The Empire|the Fire Nation]] than trying to capture Aang, along with having [[Character Development]] and [[Enemy Mine]] "moments" as sprinkles. And then, about halfway in the final season, said "moments" are what causes Zuko to {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn|become Aang's ally]].}} Then, in the series' ending, {{spoiler|he becomes the new Fire Lord}}, with things getting better and better for him, effectively ''inverting'' this trope at that point. |
* [[Overlord, Jr.|Prince]] [[Butt Monkey|Zuko]] in the first season of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. The second season puts him in [[Anti-Villain]] status, with him and his Uncle spending more time being fugitives from [[The Empire|the Fire Nation]] than trying to capture Aang, along with having [[Character Development]] and [[Enemy Mine]] "moments" as sprinkles. And then, about halfway in the final season, said "moments" are what causes Zuko to {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn|become Aang's ally]].}} Then, in the series' ending, {{spoiler|he becomes the new Fire Lord}}, with things getting better and better for him, effectively ''inverting'' this trope at that point. |
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** His [[Butt Monkey]] status comes up for actual discussion in the second season, as "[[Big Bad|My father]] says [[Daddy's Little Villain|Azula]] was born lucky. He said I was lucky to be ''born''." Plus Zuko's [[Rage Against the Heavens]] when attempting to be struck by lightning, but he can't even get that to go right. ([[It Makes Sense in Context]].) |
** His [[Butt Monkey]] status comes up for actual discussion in the second season, as "[[Big Bad|My father]] says [[Daddy's Little Villain|Azula]] was born lucky. He said I was lucky to be ''born''." Plus Zuko's [[Rage Against the Heavens]] when attempting to be struck by lightning, but he can't even get that to go right. ([[It Makes Sense in Context]].) |