Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions

** Humpty-Dumpty, who is so [[Anti-Villain|delightfully inoffensive that even calling him a villain is a big stretch]]. Even when one learns that there's a good reason that he's in Arkham, one kinda feels sorry for him; he has an obsession with fixing things by taking them apart and putting them back together again, because his ''whole life'' has been [[Deus Angst Machina|a string of disasters]], one after another. Unfortunately, his attempts to fix things only make them run ''worse''. His attempts to fix stuff like a subway train, an elevator, and a clock tower have lead to people getting hurt or even ''killed''. And, of course, he murdered his abusive grandmother when he tried to take ''her'' apart and put her together again.

** Condiment King, an absurd parody of gimmick villains, is this trope [[Lampshade Hanging|with a lampshade]]. Originally introduced as an original character for ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'' where he wasn't a villain, but a brainwashed pawn of the Joker, he eventually emigrated to mainstream comics as a real one. Just dangerous enough to be worthy of Batman and Robin's attention, he has at least the ''potential'' to be a real threat (think "mustard gas", for just one example). However, in practice, he repeatedly gets defeated in a single page. Because he's an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, he keeps getting parole.

** Jenna Duffy, aka The Carpenter (see trope image), was a member of Tweedledee and Tweedledum's "Wonderland Gang", [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|but had the sense to get out of supervillainy and to work exclusively as...an actual carpenter.]] Her specialty (who do you think ''builds'' all those [[Death Trap|deathtraps]] in Gotham?) can still get her into trouble, however.

*** Amazingly enough, however, Jenna manages to become a [[Not So Harmless Villain]] ''and'' a three-dimensional character in ''[[Batman: Streets of Gotham]]''. When she is double crossed by her employer (a crime boss called the Director) and realizes he never intended to pay her and that his scheme to kill Batman requires ''her'' death as well, she turns against him and his gang, taking them all down in what could best be described as an R-rated version of ''[[Home Alone]]''. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|(And yes, she kills one thug ''with a nail gun''.)]] Batman later advises her to leave Gotham, and she does - for a while.