Replacement Scrappy/Analysis
The following analysis is tongue-in-cheek and rooted in pop psychology. Do not mistake this for a psychological analysis proper.
Fandom being Serious Business, it is not at all uncommon for fans to become emotionally attached to fictional characters. As such, when a character departs from the show, whether cruel, abrupt, or even with proper closure, it can cause strong feelings of emptiness akin to a break-up. The process of a new character entering fans' lives can thus be explained through the popular Five Stages of Grief. Actual level of emotional response may vary from person to person. This is a representation of particularly extreme cases (because it's more fun that way).
Caveat (reposted from the main page): Of course, being a Replacement Scrappy does not preclude also being a regular Scrappy. It is entirely possible that the audience would have hated the character anyway.
- Denial: "[Old character]'s not really gone. (S)he can't be! I'm sure (s)he'll reappear in an episode or three. This minor arbitrary line of dialogue proves it!"
- Anger: "I hate you [new character]! All you do is get in the way! What nerve the producers have to think you could ever replace [old character]!"
- Bargaining: "I'll sign this obscure Internet petition and boycott the show! That'll show them!"
- Depression: "Everybody betray me. I fed up with this show! Why are you idiots still watching it? It's terrible without [old character]."
- Acceptance:[1] "Hey, maybe [new character] isn't so bad after all! I think I'm actually warming up to him/her! Besides, s/he's just going to get replaced again anyway.
- ↑ This being fandom, several fanatics never make it past Depression and can be forever seen haunting the Internet and moaning about how nothing can ever fill the void left by their favourite character's disappearance.