Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Difference between revisions

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== Western Animation ==

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]:

* ~~The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode~~ "Owl's Well That Ends Well" involves the usually-good dragon cub Spike temporarily becoming a villain, but definitely of the "ineffectual sympathetic" variety, [[The Woobie|with the emphasis on "sympathetic".]] For context, when an owl named [[Unknown Rival|Owlowicious]] shows up to do some of the work Spike had been typically doing for the girls, Spike ends up getting less attention from them than before, and in turn, [[Green-Eyed Monster|resents the owl a fair bit]]. After being scolded by Twilight for lying about a book not being there, he thinks the owl set him up, and in turn, tries to do the same to the owl, by planting a fake dead mouse with [[A Bloody Mess|ketchup blood]] in Twilight Sparkle's room; he gets caught in the act. {{spoiler|After running away, ending up encountering a dragon while gone, and then being saved from the dragon by Twilight and the owl, he apologized for the way he was behaving and is back to being one of the good guys.}}

** "Owl's Well That Ends Well" involves the usually-good dragon cub Spike temporarily becoming a villain, but definitely of the "ineffectual sympathetic" variety, [[The Woobie|with the emphasis on "sympathetic".]] For context, when an owl named [[Unknown Rival|Owlowicious]] shows up to do some of the work Spike had been typically doing for the girls, Spike ends up getting less attention from them than before, and in turn, [[Green-Eyed Monster|resents the owl a fair bit]]. After being scolded by Twilight for lying about a book not being there, he thinks the owl set him up, and in turn, tries to do the same to the owl, by planting a fake dead mouse with [[A Bloody Mess|ketchup blood]] in Twilight Sparkle's room; he gets caught in the act. {{spoiler|After running away, ending up encountering a dragon while gone, and then being saved from the dragon by Twilight and the owl, he apologized for the way he was behaving and is back to being one of the good guys.}}

** Except in the episode "Secrets of My Excess", however this time, Spike is transformed into a gargantuan rampaging beast that almost completely demolishes Ponyville. ''Even then'' he may lean into this since it's all for the sake of [[Poke the Poodle|hoarding "gifts"]].

** Most of the [[Rogues Gallery]] for the show act as this or mere petty bullies. The foes used in the two part specials are the only notable exceptions, and even then their [[Smug Snake|detrmimental arrogance]] and the often humiliating manner they are taken out almost makes you pity them.

* ~~Harley Quinn of~~ ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' ~~tended to fall into this trope, especially when she caught on as a popular character:~~

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'':

** Harley was often treated as genuinely misguided, so the audience sometimes forgave her for her more violent behavior depending on how softening a particular episode was.

** Harley Quinn tended to fall into this trope, especially when she caught on as a popular character: She was often treated as genuinely misguided, so the audience sometimes forgave her for her more violent behavior depending on how softening a particular episode was.

** In the comic-turned-episode "Mad Love", Harley did manage to succeed in trapping Batman. Batman's only hope was to have her inform The Joker, who he knew would free Batman because ''[[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|it wasn't HIM that defeated Batman!]]'' Batman even admitted that Harley came closer to killing him than the Joker ever did. Harley also suggested [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|just shooting Batman]], instead of elaborate death traps. Ironically, at the end of the episode, {{spoiler|Harley almost succeeded in killing Bats with an elaborate death trap, while the ''Joker'', who previously slapped Harley for even suggesting such a thing, tried simply shooting him...and failed.}}

*** In the comic-turned-episode "Mad Love", Harley [[Not-So-Harmless Villain|did manage to succeed in trapping Batman]]. Batman's only hope was to have her inform The Joker, who he knew would free Batman because ''[[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|it wasn't HIM that defeated Batman!]]'' Batman even admitted that Harley came closer to killing him than the Joker ever did. Harley also suggested [[Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?|just shooting Batman]], instead of elaborate death traps. Ironically, at the end of the episode, {{spoiler|Harley almost succeeded in killing Bats with an elaborate death trap, while the ''Joker'', who previously slapped Harley for even suggesting such a thing, tried simply shooting him...and failed.}}

** ~~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.

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

{{quote|''[[Lex Luthor]]'': [[Trivially Obvious|Scarecrow, you...you're made of STRAW!]]}}

* 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.]]

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* The Ape Man from the original ''[[Scooby-Doo (animation)|Scooby-Doo Where Are You?]]''. One of the biggest strengths of this cartoon was the creativity of the bad guys, but this was… just a gorilla. Naturally, it was in fact [[Scooby-Doo Hoax|a crook dressed like a gorilla]], but he did the dumbest thing any villain did in this show, remove his mask when he thought nobody was looking! This let Shaggy take his picture, leading to the others easily identifying him, made even easier by the fact that he was the only bald guy in the episode. Plus there was his incredibly pathetic motive, revenge against a movie director for not giving him the lead role in a movie. It was a low budget horror B-movie! How petty can you get?

* [[Prince Charmless| Prince Charming]] from ''[[Shrek the Third]]''. He was an okay - if [[Flat Character| a little flat]] - character when he was his mother’s crony in [[Shrek 2| the second movie]], but as the main antagonist in the third, he went from flat to lame. First of all, everyone in the film sees him as the butt of a bad joke - when even Pinocchio is trolling you, it kind of underscores the idea that you could ever be a threat to anyone. And he isn’t. His [[Evil Plan]] isn’t exactly well thought out - putting on a play where he heroically slays Shrek at the end, an action he assumes will forever cement him as the hero and Shrek as the villain. Sure, he gains points for creativity, but the flaw in this plan is obvious from the start - by this point in the franchise, Shrek has established himself as a beloved hero, while everyone despises Charming. More than likely, Prince Charming is a lesson for any villain’s goofy sidekick with thoughts of becoming a [[Dragon Ascendant]] - sometimes it’s better to stick to what you’re good at.

* Jacob Hopkins, the museum curator from ''[[The Owl House]]'' is this and a [[Hate Sink]]. Much like [[Big Bad| Emperor Belos]], Jacob is a bigot of the Fantastic Racism type, a narcissist, Well-Intentioned Extremist, glory hound, and unmistakable proof that Humans are the Real Monsters in this series. Belos, however, while utterly despicable, is a captivating and interesting villain with an intriguing backstory and deep storyline. Jacob is just... an idiot, being a Conspiracy Theorist of the most absurd sort; While most villains who fit that Trope have at least some leg to stand on and often bring up some good points, Jacob seems to have based his beliefs - including the idea that demons and witches come from Mars in order to collect human teeth in order to build a time machine - from internet blogs with RPG content. In fact his sole motivation for wanting to dissect poor Vee is because his YouTube account has been banned for being obnoxious, and he believes obtaining proof of his ideas will get it unbanned. Very Catharsis for the viewer when Ms. Noceda beat him to a pulp, jailed him in his own cage, and then learned that he was fired later.

== Real Life ==