Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Sadly, the [[Mary Sue]]'s aura of awesome does not extend out of the pages she's written on, and that "sympathetic" [[Creator's Pet|teen genius Wesley]] and "adorable" [[The Scrappy|feisty pup Scrappy]] aren't exceptions either. Even the "cool" plot twist can go awry. What's an author to do? There's always the option of [[Put on a Bus|Putting Them on a Bus]], or hoping to succeed with an [[Author's Saving Throw]], but this character, for various reasons, just can't be done away with like that.

 

 

In a nutshell, this is a reinterpretation of the character or idea, be it in the form of [[Character Development]], a [[Retool]], a [[Time Skip]] making the character mature a bit, or giving the actor acting lessons. In any event, they get fleshed out in a way that wins over bitter fans and breathes new life into the series.

A few series can even do this intentionally, and have an otherwise unlikable [[Smug Snake]] [[Dynamic Character|evolve into]] a more human, three-dimensional character.

 

 

* If Scrappy Doo were to grow up a little, and stop trying to fight monsters all the time and doing all his other stuff that irritates fans (while keeping his lack of monster-fighting skill), that'd be this trope.

 

In a way, this is the opposite of [[Canon Discontinuity]], which excludes the character from [[Canon]] entirely. Compare [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] and [[Badass Decay]]. Also contrast [[Author's Saving Throw]], which is an attempt to [[Hand Wave]] away the offending element, rather than fix it outright. See [[Growing the Beard]] in case you feel this way about the show itself. Might overlap with [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]], [[Reimagining the Artifact]], or especially [[A Day in the Limelight]].

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' is generally forgiven for sucking by the ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' fanbase, because ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]]'', ''[[Super Robot Wars K]]'' (to a minor extent due to cutting out most of the plot), and ''[[Super Robot Wars L]]'' did them a service by making GSD ''make sense'' (even severely rewriting several plot points to acheive this goal in the last case). Also, the characterization was improved, Kira was verbally and physically bitchslapped for being a [[God Mode Sue]] (and his motivations were more sensible), Neo {{spoiler|Mu La Flaga}} expressed regret for lots of shit he pulled on others while [[Brainwashed and Crazy]], and Shinn Asuka's angst has been redone to keep him from being a [[Jerkass]], amongst many other fixes.

** Also in ''00'', {{spoiler|Andrei Smirnov}} jumped full-on into the Scrappy Heap after {{spoiler|killing his father Sergei, the series' resident [[Cool Old Guy]] and one of the most [[Reasonable Authority Figure|reasonable authority figures]] in the series, ''[[Murder by Mistake|because he jumped to a conclusion]]''}}. [[The Movie]] gives him {{spoiler|a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]], which jumped him out of "despised" if not into "well-liked". Obviously doubles with [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]]}}.

** Also, Nena Trinity once she killed an even ''bigger'' Scrappy than herself: {{spoiler|Wang Lu Mei.}} Unfortunately, Nena wasn't able to do much of anything after being rescued from the heap, as she {{spoiler|dies ''immediately'' afterwards.}}

* This happened to Bart in ''[[Vandread]]'' as a result of his [[A Day in the Limelight]] episode. The [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] made him [[Badass]], and the [[Important Haircut]] (or rather, the reason for it) made him [[Character Development|sympathetic]]. Though his [[Let's Get Dangerous|newfound competence]] helped, it was still primarily the [[Character Development]] that did it in earlier episodes, culminating in a blurb before the new season where the older version boggles at the younger version and wonders if he used to be that silly.

* A rather odd example: ''[[Naruto]]'''s Sasuke has been considered a Scrappy for the longest time [[Americans Hate Tingle|in America]]. But once he's been pitted against [[Invincible Villain|Danzou]], American fans have actually started ''[[Black and Grey Morality|rooting]]'' for him. Though this may be more because it's his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] than him just being the lesser of two evils.

*** To others, being pitted against [[Creator's Pet|Sasuke]] also rescued ''Danzo'' from the scrappy heap for many fans, having people who previously dismissed him as a nasty [[Smug Snake]] commenting that Danzo had [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|several good points]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome moments]] during his surprisingly even fight with Mr. [[Plot Armor]] himself. This combined with his [[Alas, Poor Villain]] moment had many fans declare Danzo a more honorable and sympathetic character than Sasuke at this point. {{spoiler|Sasuke killing Danzo}} made some fans like him a little, but it also made a lot of people hate him ''more''.

** Also happened to Karin when {{spoiler|Sasuke sacrificing her to kill Danzou turned her into [[The Woobie]]. Although she survived, she made it clear she didn't care about Sasuke after what he did. Not only did this remove her from the shipping equation, but she also displayed, what some fans believe, more common sense than other characters in the series.}}

* Suzaku Kururugi from ''[[Code Geass]]'', {{spoiler|after Lelouch Geass-es him to "Live!", which causes him to revert from his fake (and debatably hypocritical) nice guy persona to his brash, rude, and brutally honest "true self".}}

** The events that take place during the [[Time Skip]], {{spoiler|namely his handing Lelouch over to the Emperor in return for a promotion, while still unrealistically touting his idea of changing Britannia from the inside}}, seem to have booted Suzaku right back into [[The Scrappy]] Heap (at least by those who don't know of or care about "[[Memetic Mutation|Spinzaku]]"). Between episodes 14 and 20 of R2, Suzaku's actions became wildly erratic, until {{spoiler|his [[Heel Face Turn|becoming Lelouch's Knight of Zero]]}} in episode 21.

** Then we have [[Tyke Bomb|Rolo Lamperouge]], {{spoiler|performing a heartwrenching [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in order to take Lelouch away from being shot by the Black Knights, killing himself in the process through Geass overuse.}}

* Sakuno Ryuzaki from the animated version of ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'' is portrayed as a [[Shrinking Violet|"sweet and earnest, but klutzy and stuttering child"]], and thus, she's often reviled and hated. But several Sakuno haters have come to like her better after reading the manga, which tones down her klutziness and makes her a pint-sized, more self-assured [[Yamato Nadeshiko]]. Same goes to her Chinese drama self, where Sakuno is more outspoken and independent ''and'' a promising artist on top of that.

** Conversely, some fans (often of the [[Het Is Ew]] type) dislike manga!Sakuno's portrayal as the ideal girlfriend for Ryoma (whom they see as a possible [[Purity Sue]]), but prefer her anime counterpart as the clumsiness and insecurity are semi-realistic character flaws.

* The ''[[School Days]]'' manga portrays main character Makoto Itou as more sympathetic than his other versions (that of an idiotic [[Jerkass]] who cares only about boning as many girls as possible). In the manga, he is portrayed as a well-intentioned idiot who actually ''cares'' for the girls, other than just schtupping them.

* Bat from ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' went from annoying brat to capable warrior between the first and second series. He grew up pretty well.

* Miaka Yuuki, main character of ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', appears to have gotten a little less flak from some of her haters thanks to ''Eikoden''; their reasoning was that no matter how bad they thought Miaka was, she at least had good intentions and cared a lot for other people than herself, whereas Mayo was a hundred times worse.

* The little duck billed bratty demon, Kanchome, of ''[[Zatch Bell]]'', was generally useful for little more than a random flawed disguise on the spot to help his ... *sigh* [[True Companions]], and his attitude had [[The Scrappy]] written all over it. The anime gave him a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] by having him nearly defeat a stronger foe with a new spell that made replications of himself, but he would go on to be much more badass in the manga - he saved the Earth from destruction by Clear Note (the [[Big Bad]]) by ''transforming into the Earth'' and hypnotizing Clear to think it was the real thing.

** The Zanpakutou Filler arc rescues her further from the heap, whereas she starts taking active roles in battle and the arc actually shows that she is awesome on her own right.

** And now, as of chapter 449 {{spoiler|Orihime}} seems to be going in this direction, as she finally got her wish to {{spoiler|be the [[Combat Medic]] and an active part of the [[True Companions]].}}

* ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'''s [[The Chew Toy|Chew Toy]], the sometimes annoying crybaby [[Bratty Half-Pint|Satoko]], gained a fanbase after standing up to Shion while being ''stabbed to death''. In some fan's eyes, {{spoiler|Takano Miyo}}'s flashback arc did a great job at making {{spoiler|her}} sympathetic and cheer-worthy in the eyes of a lot of fans, even though {{spoiler|she's}} the [[Big Bad]].

** ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' seems to be trying to do the same thing for [[Creepy Child|Maria]] as of the fourth arc.

* Shinji from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is often given a back-bone and made much more socially capable when he's ported over to things like the ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' series of games or [[Continuity Reboot|re-imaging]]/AdaptationDistillation of the main series such as the manga adaptation, the Angelic Days/Girlfriend of Steel 2 storyline, or the ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'' film series.

* This, apparently, was the effect for some of [[Soul Eater|Mosquito's]] [[Bishonen Line]] during the Baba Yaga arc. He was dead within two chapters - interrupted transformations sequences FTW.

** This good-looking younger version of Mosquito is the one he uses to slice Death the Kid's arm off. This is an [[Evil Is Sexy]] thing, isn't it? Had he done it in his massive gorilla-insect-ish forms, people wouldn't have 'Rescued' him.

* Elizabeth Middleford of ''[[Black Butler]]'' in chapter 57. {{spoiler|This sweet, adorable and harmless [[Damsel in Distress]] reveals herself as a [[Badass Adorable]] in Chapter 57 and confesses that she desperately wanted for her fiancé Ciel to not see her "uncute" side, and deliberately hid her badass side up until then. Even nearly at the cost of her own life. Shortly after Ciel berates her for such behavior (Prioritizing lady-manners over survival), when she is about to die while Ciel, who despite his best efforts ends up injured and unable to save her, is in danger, Elizabeth spontaneously leaps into action and stabs down the zombies using swords in both hands. While tearfully declaring that she'll protect him, even.}}

** [[Character Development|It's more than that, really.]] {{spoiler|She lives in Victorian England, where a lady must be prim and proper; her mother Frances taught her swordsmanship since she was quite the [[Child Prodigy]] at it... which young Ciel had no idea at the time, [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|only wishing to marry sweet Elizabeth and not a savage warrior like Frances.]] Then we see her train of thoughts as she has to sacrifice so much for Ciel's safety, vowing that [[Violently Protective Girlfriend|she would become a powerful wife so she could protect him]].}} Such stuff is HUGE [[Woobie]] material.

* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Chisame was fairly unpopular early in the series for her excessively abrasive personality. Then Mahorafest rolled around and [[Character Development|developed her]] into an [[Only Sane Man]] / [[Meta Guy]] / [[Audience Surrogate]], at which point she was much more well received.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Matter-Eater Lad of the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' started out as a total weirdo with an incredibly [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|lame power]] who was eventually written out of the storyline, first by going back to his home planet and eventually [[Alas, Poor Scrappy|going into a coma]] after saving the universe by eating a "Miracle Machine" that was warping reality. During the "[[Time Skip|Five Years Later]]" era, though, he was re-imagined with a rock-star persona ([[Cool Shades]] and all), gleefully reveling in his own absurdity.

{{quote|"All this roughhousing is giving me an appetite * CHOMP* and you don't want to give '''me''' *gulp* an appetite."}}

** In [[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|the animated series]] he has the "rock star" design and gets this line:

{{quote|'''Brainiac 5''': (to restrained villain) Move anything, and he'll bite it off.

(We then get a shot of Matter-Eater Lad with a big-ass grin on his face) }}

** [[Peter David]] also de-Scrappified the [[Incredible Hulk|Incredible Hulk's]] sidekick Rick Jones by aging him into an adult and letting him display a more [[Rounded Character|well-rounded personality]]. In fairness, the original teenaged Rick worked well as an angst-ridden kid hanging around the Hulk [[Failure Knight|out of guilt for causing Banner's curse]]; he only became [[The Scrappy]] when Marvel separated him from the Hulk and made him, implausibly, a serial sidekick to a host of other more mainstream superheroes, making him a [[Marty Stu]], (though give him points for bluntly telling [[Captain America (comics)]] to quit his [[My Greatest Failure|incessant "Bucky is dead" moaning]]). David brought Rick back to his roots. Ironically, David himself later teamed Rick with the hero Genis-Vell, but the dynamic was much the same as Rick/Hulk, since Genis was ''also'' a dangerous, psychologically unstable, very powerful character.

*** Not only does he have a knack for it, he seems to have a ''preference'' for it. After he was forced to write Rahne out of X-Factor so that she could be in X-Force, he said that part of the reason he brought Shatterstar into the book was because the character was considered so terminally uncool that no one else was even considering having him in their books, and this gave him lee-way to revamp the character and play around with him without worrying that he'd get poached for another title.

* Kyle Rayner initially received a lot of hate from ''[[Green Lantern]]'' fans (mainly Hal Jordan fans) when he [[Replacement Scrappy|replaced Hal Jordan]] after the controversial ''Emerald Twilight'' arc. However, over time, Rayner was presented as a likable character, thanks to Grant Morrison's run on [[Justice League of America|JLA]]. Fans argue that Geoff Johns is trying to throw him back in with his role as the clueless whipping-boy of the Sinestro Corps.

** Except Peter David & [[Grant Morrison]] DID make him cool. And if you give his ''[[Brightest Day]]'' incarnation a chance, [[Geoff Johns]] has shown that, yes in the right hands, even [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] Aquaman can be cool. But not as much as his wife.

* [[Daken]] was widely despised by the fanbase during his initial appearances in ''[[Wolverine]] Origins'', but is starting to grow into a fan favourite after joining the [[Dark Avengers]].

** He starts doing this by showing Monkey Khan being picked on by orphans. Do I sense a ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'' reference, or is it just me?

* Kaine in [[Spider-Girl]]: Once he was a [[wangst]]y [[Creator's Pet|over-hyped]] [[Nineties Anti-Hero]]. Now he's a [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]] [[Badass Grandpa]] just trying to [[The Atoner|atone]] and [[Mysterious Protector|watch out]] for [[Papa Wolf|his niece and nephew. Excuse me, nephews.]] Doesn't hurt that they gave him a new look either.

** Kaine's run as the Scarlet-Spider in the main canon is also well loved.

* The creation of the [[Marvel Adventures]] line saw a lot of characters getting a much-needed face lift, but by far, the best-received [[Retool]] was changing [[The Wasp]] into [[Marvel Adventures|Giant Girl]]. Readers that hated the former loved the latter, and readers who liked the former adored the latter even ''more''. Of all the characters who were axed when the MA: ''Avengers'' series was cancelled in favor of a continuity reboot in MA: ''Super-Heroes'', Giant Girl was the one most fans were saddest to see go.

* [[Red Hulk]] was introduced by [[Jeph Loeb]] taking down one major league hero or cosmic entity after another, with no particular motivation and a secret identity that no one cared about. He used to provide the page picture for [[Villain Sue]]. Recently (and after Loeb lost control of the character) it's been explained that his [[Villain Sue]] abilities were due to a [[Deadly Upgrade]] by a group that was [[Unwitting Pawn|using him to dispose of their enemies]], then die. It's been removed, and Red Hulk is going through the process of being cathartically (to both readers and characters) beaten up by the people he trounced while in God Mode and facing up to the consequences of his actions. Commentators on his newer storyline have mentioned how it just feels ''weird'' to actually be interested in Red Hulk as a character.

** A similar rescue has taken place with the Red She-Hulk. Originally she was introduced as a generic 'sexy bad girl', complete with giant guns and a ludicrously [[Clothing Damage|ripped costume]], and a prime example of [[Jeph Loeb|Jeph Loeb's]] inability to come up with good names. Since then the firearms and the torn outfit were unceremoniously dropped, instead putting her and [[Incredible Hulk|the Hulk]] into a well-received two-person [[Love Dodecahedron|Love Quadrangle]].

* ''[[Spider-Man]]'': Ever since "Spider-Island", Carlie Cooper has slowly gained more fans as Peter's ''ex''-girlfriend than she ever did while dating him. At first, she was a classic bad fanfic [[Mary Sue]] of the "perfect love for the main character ''because I say so''" type. Then she got in the hands of a writer who wasn't basing her on his own daughter, got some character traits that weren't clippings taken from Gwen or MJ, and you can actually go a panel without [[Character Shilling|everyone telling us over and over and over how perfect Carlie is for Peter]] even when they're the last characters you'd expect it from. By now, Carlie... ''almost'' makes people not see red at the mention of her name. (Her origin and the whole [[One More Day]] thing mean that'll be the best she can do for at least a few more years, though.)

 

* The ''[[Pony POV Series]]'' does a combination of this and [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]] with {{spoiler|the ''entire G3 world''. The biggest complaint about G3 were the characters were bland and seemed to all have the same personality and stuck so close to the model it was hard to tell them apart.}} So how does the fic do this? {{spoiler|[[The End of the World as We Know It]]. Their universe begins to ''die'' because the spell used to make their world "perfect" violates the laws of magic and the laws of the universe to the point it begins to ''break'', and threaten to take the timeline with it. The only way to stop this is with a [[Cosmic Retcon]] by [[Physical God|the Alicorns and Draconequi]], essentially erasing the timeline, and its inhabitants, from existence so the timeline can be saved. As their world dies, the characters [[Take a Level In Badass]] and undergrow character growth in response to what they're faced with, becoming complex and likable characters...which makes it that much of a [[Tear Jerker]] when they ultimately fail to save their world in the end, resulting in the creation of the G4 timeline.}}

 

== Film ==

*** His scrappy status ended as soon as he wore that [[Nice Hat|Fez]]. [[Nice Hat|Fezes are cool.]]

** The most egregious Doctor Who example, Adric, seemed to manage this in the 2008 audio ''The Boy that Time Forgot'', a tribute to the character and his status within the show's history, in which he is played by 'an actor' (Andrew Sachs) as opposed to Matthew Waterhouse; before that, his larger, more active role and [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in his final story went some way to redeem him, although that falls more under [[Alas, Poor Scrappy]].

** Unfortunately, it didn't last. She had her level in badass taken away again and any good the attempt had done was instantly gone.

* ''[[Jericho]]'s'' Emily became [[The Scrappy]] very quickly, and remained so for all of Season One. Although she was now in a relationship with the hero, Season Two still made a good effort to rectify this, by giving her approximately two minutes of screentime an episode.

* ''[[House (TV series)|House]]''

** Dr. Cameron was initially hard to like, but the fanbase seems to have warmed up to her (especially in comparison to her replacement on House's team, Thirteen). It was difficult to like Cameron because she usually became emotionally involved with the patients and would usually disagree with House and sometimes the rest of the team simply because whatever House had planned was immoral. She was probably planned to be sort a straight man or voice of reason, but due to the strong personalities of the other characters, especially House, she became more like a preachy, annoying character who made stupid mistakes that sometimes did more harm than good for the sake of her morals. After being replaced by the new team, she reappears occasionally but is ''much'' less irritating.

* Say what you will about the [[Jumping the Shark|show in recent years]], but most people agree that Peter Petrelli from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' became ''much'' more likable after {{spoiler|his [[God Mode Sue]] status was undone as he was [[Brought Down to Normal]]}}, which forced him to actually use his brain and drop the [[Idiot Ball]].

** How about Hiro? Popular in volumes 1 and then deeply annoying in 3 and 4 due to his development from the first two seasons being rejected in favor of him being a childish moron again. Then redeemed in 5 due to his cancer and Charlie arcs making him more serious again and him no longer appearing in every episode.

* Kelly Ball from ''[[Shameless]]''. Started life off as Kev's annoying sister. After annoying out of everyone in one episode per series (2-4), she was promoted to the main cast as Shane Maguire's boyfriend and has shed her previous image.

* Andy Bernard on ''[[The Office]]'' was introduced as a throughly dislikable sycophant with rage issues. While he's continued to be portrayed as a comically awkward character, his portrayal became more sympathetic during his engagement to Angela (who cheated on him and was otherwise emotionally abusive) and by the time he ended up a main character in the most recent series he was one of the most likable characters on the show.

* Jenny on ''[[The L Word]]'' was both [[The Scrappy]] and a [[Creator's Pet]] for most fans, but, when the writers caught onto just how disliked her character was, and brought her back as an all out unsympathetic, incompetent [[Jerkass]] director in Season Five, it actually ''boosted'' her popularity. Mia Kirshner's utterly hilarious performance with the new material made her a joy to watch. Ironically, having her go crazy - and ''acknowledging'' her craziness within the show - made fans care about her a lot more than any of the previous efforts to redeem or [[The Woobie|Woobify]] her in earlier seasons.

* Jerri Manthey from ''[[Survivor (TV series)|Survivor]].'' Everyone hated "[[Memetic Molester|Man-Eater Manthey]]" after her appearance in ''Survivor: Australia'' back when Survivor was new and it was the next greatest thing. She received similar treatment after appearing on ''Survivor: All Stars'', when she was booed out of the reunion by the audience. Her third time on the show in ''Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains'', she toned her self down, and was put next to larger than life characters like Coach and Russell Hantz who many fans did not like. She turned into the [[Plucky Girl]] and became a fan favorite near the end before being voted off at the final four. She received a loud applause at the reunion, in contrast to her reception several years prior.

* Haley Reinhart managed to pull herself out on Season 10 of ''[[American Idol]]''. At the beginning of the season she was criticized for her appearance adding more to her staying power than her voice. That all changed when she started to deliver stellar performances and gained a possibly insane fanbase.

* Alex on ''[[Happy Endings]]''. Many deemed her a boring, [[Mary Sue]] type character initially, but starting with the second season, the writers began to [[Character Development|flesh out her character more]], and she became the lovable [[The Ditz|ditz]] viewers have come to know.

 

== [[Multiple Media]] ==

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

** And the really funny part? By most accounts [[Dwayne Johnson]] ''actually is'' as nice as the Rocky Maivia character was.

* [[ECW]]'s Tommy Dreamer began as a green suspenders-wearing pretty boy that the fans hated. ECW was starting to be known as the blue-collar hardcore promotion people know today and Tommy stuck out like a WCW reject. He gets put in a "Singapore Cane Match" where the loser gets caned by his opponent. He lost to the Sandman, who went to town on Tommy with his now famous cane. By the third strike Tommy's back was bleeding but he wouldn't stay down. After the tenth shot, he stumbled to the mic and defiantly cried, "[[Animal House|Thank you, sir. May I have ANOTHER]]?!", which he promptly got. At the end of the caning, Tommy walked over to Sandman and told him that he took Sandman's best and was still standing. It was the first step to Tommy becoming the poster boy of ECW.

{{quote|'''Cena''': You get mad when these fans chant 'You suck.' Half the people out there think ''I'' suck.}}

** As of July 23, 2011, he's also gotten a BIG SHIFT. He's gained more of an edge and lost most of his plain vanilla straights by showing his backbone (in the sense that he wouldn't be known for kissing [[Vince McMahon]]'s ass after the end of his match with [[CM Punk]] in Money in the Bank 2011), actually calling out on Vince for all the crazy stuff that's going on, and is also more about getting a fair fight even if people try to screw things up.

** And then those fans who hadn't been convinced by the inferno match soon rallied to his side after his Wrestlemania XXIII match against Benoit, where MVP displayed a surprising aptitude for mat wrestling he hadn't shown before. This match was a lot better than MVP's debut outing against Marty Garner at No Mercy 2006, which sparked the "if [[Chris Benoit]] couldn't pull a good match out of him" train of thought in the first place.

* When [[The Miz]] came to the WWE, he was a very annoying Diva Search host who was so bad that he was blatantly reading his lines off his arms. Most felt that he hadn't paid his dues and was only there because of his [[The Real World|Real World]] "fame". When he was put in the ring, he wasn't very good at that either. He started to show mild improvement as he got drafted to ECW, but most felt that the TV time should have gone to anyone more talented. Case in point, he was voted to be [[CM Punk]]'s challenger for the ECW title at Cyber Sunday because the [[Genre Savvy]] fans knew that Miz would never win the ECW title. His rescue would start when he and [[John Morrison]] were randomly thrown together and won the WWE Tag Team titles on their first night as a team. A few weeks later, WWE.com posted the first [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfJU4-r0tSU ''Dirt Sheet''] and [[The Miz]] and Morrison duo became a sensation almost overnight. The Dirt Sheet videos coupled with Miz's drastic improvement in the ring while tagging with [[John Morrison]] turned Miz from a [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]] to a possible future main-eventer, United States Champion, and Money in the Bank ladder match winner who ultimately cashed in said briefcase on November 22, 2010 to become [[Small Name, Big Ego|the most must-see]] '''[[It's All About Me|WWE Champion]]''' [[Small Name, Big Ego|in history]] [[Catch Phrase|because he's the Miz and he's AWESOME!]]

 

=== Roleplaying Games ===

** Half-Elfs and Half-Orcs in 3.5 were some of the worst race options a player could pick (outside of Diplomacy maximizing for Half-Elfs), with only some minor boosts to skills and immunity to sleep effects that high level characters are immune to anyways (Half Elfs) or the only race feature to make up for their unbalanced racial modifers<ref>a net -2 with the norm +0</ref> being Darkvision, which other races have anyways (Half-Orc) compared to a Human's bonus feat and extra skill points. In Pathfinder both races get to pick +2 to any atribute with no penalties. Half-Elfs can pick any Skill Focus or Weapon Proficiency feat for free,<ref>neither all that great on their own, but common requirements for worthwhile things</ref> can pick two favored classes and have the best Bard and Summoner favored class alterentives. Half-Orcs have actual racial features and a decent range of alternate features to customize themself with.

 

 

== Video Games ==

** Similarly, most people warmed up to Vanille after her mask broke in chapter 8.

** Every character in the game is made to appear extremely unlikeable in the first part of the game, but they slowly reveal their much greater depth as the plot progresses in the second half.

** [[Mortal Kombat 3|Kurtis Stryker]], ''the'' original Scrappy in the [[Mortal Kombat|MKverse]], got a new design in ''[[Mortal Kombat Armageddon|Armageddon]]'', which was well-received. But the real rescuing for him came with ''[[Mortal Kombat 9]]'', where he gets a [[Genre Savvy]] personality, an even cooler outfit, and an overall better design.

*** Raiden is now seen as this by much of the fandom due to his [[What an Idiot!|idiotic moments throughout the story]].

* [[Spoony Bard|Deekin]], in ''[[Neverwinter Nights]] Shadows of Undrentide'', was generally obnoxious. Hordes of the Underdark did a much better job with him by giving him some generally humorous dialogue ("Drows be fatty. Gots it.") and his big [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]] in the endgame.

* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' does this at times. This is rather important, given that nearly every [[NPC]] ally you get tends to start out yelling "[[The Scrappy|Puppy Power]]!" and [[Leeroy Jenkins|diving headfirst into groups of powerful enemies]]. The most notable case is probably Penelope Yin, who starts as a combination of [[The Ditz]] and [[Creator's Pet]] with bits of [[Faux Action Girl]] for flavor, a psychic with vast but [[Informed Ability|non-combat]] powers and the interest of several different major factions of the game. Thankfully, by the next time you run into her, she's a useful in-combat ally, with slightly more reasonable chat text. She still makes mistakes, but it's a bit more reasonable. Fusionette, on the other hand...

** Fusionette, in fact, is an interesting case of it being attempted but not working out as well as intended. Her boyfriend, Faultline, shows up as a combat [[NPC]], but his Stone/Stone powerset means that he gets some of the best defensive powers in the game, essentially making his role as a Tank plausible and effective. Poor Fusionette, an Energy/Energy [[Squishy Wizard]] Blaster, draws lots of enemy fire that she's utterly incapable of dealing with, especially compared to PCs of the same level.

*** Fusionette comes into her own as an extra damage dealer in solo play or small teams, especially if a "support" PC keeps her healthy and buffed. Other NPCs that are useless to large competent teams and tend to die quickly unless an active effort is keep them alive and powered up include Daedalus and Imperious from the Imperious Task Force, and (in a rather disconcerting example of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]) the entire Freedom Phalanx during the Mender Silos Task Force. Which makes their "help" something of an [[Escort Mission]].

* Several [[NPC]]s who were something of [[The Scrappy]] in the first ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]]'' become more tolerable or even acceptable in its sequel (for example, Quayle, rather than being a near-useless party member, turns out to have matured considerably in becoming an NPC). Other characters who were tolerable or acceptable become awesome ({{spoiler|Jaheira's}} reaction to finding the butchered body of {{spoiler|Khalid}} is notably heart-rending).

** Also, in ''[[Baldur's Gate|Baldurs Gate]] II'' you got Anomen. He starts with a self-righteous, Holier Than Thou attitude that makes him annoying at best and insufferable at worse. After you complete his personal quest in the right way he gets '''much''' better. If you finish the wrong way, however...

* Some ''[[Super Mario Bros.|Super Mario Bros]]'' fans began warming up to Waluigi after, well... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6CLfZl0m88 This.] He is one of the strongest assist trophies in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]: Brawl''.

** ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' also helped Waluigi gain fans.

* As a comic relief character in a fairly dark and serious game, Jansen Friedh of ''[[Lost Odyssey]]'' seemed doomed to [[The Scrappy]] heap at first glance. Fortunately, in the English dub, at least, his voice actor's naturalistic performance and improvisation managed to rescue him, transforming what could have been an irritating sidekick into a genuinely funny and sympathetic character. That he received quite a bit of [[Character Development]] along the way, particularly once he {{spoiler|fell in love with an immortal queen}}, also helped.

* People hated Raiden of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' for [[Replacement Scrappy|replacing Snake]] as the protagonist and for his annoying tendencies. The fourth game, however, shows that, when you get right down to it, he is not someone you want to screw with.

* This arguably happened to Axl when he [[Shut UP, Hannibal|interrupted]] Lumine's [[Not So Different]] [[Hannibal Lecture|speech]] [[Talk to the Fist|with a judicious amount of gunfire]] in ''[[Mega Man X]] 8''.

** It also helped the ''X8'' cleaned up Axl's gameplay, making him easier to use than in ''X7''.

* Beowulf from ''[[Fire Emblem]]: [[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' was once known as a universally hated character for lying and cheating on Lachesis, people think he's a big liar and philanderer. But suddenly, it's revealed that Lachesis was still in love with her brother Eltoshan and may have had an affair with Finn in Thracia 776. Thus, fan reaction towards him has softened ever since (those who are pissed with him are probably going on his mediocre stats, and his 'stupid grin').

** In turn, however, fans started ragging on Lachesis as "one slutty princess". Still, she has yet to be completely pushed to the Scrappy Heap thanks to her sympathetic [[Character Development]] and [[Game Breaker]] status.

{{quote|"Ice Cream!" (everyone stares in silence.)}}

** ''Chronicles'' also toned back Amy Rose from [[Stalker with a Crush]] to a more tolerable [[Clingy Jealous Girl]], and polished Rouge into a [[Deadpan Snarker]] par excellence. Say what you will about the gameplay and plot, but Bioware did a magnificent job with the characters.

*** From a purely technical perspective, his gameplay is probably the least broken out of the three main heroes.

** ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' seems to be causing the fanbase to finally warm up to Silver the Hedgehog. Considering Sega gave him a new voice actor, made him less of a whiny [[Jerkass]], and made his boss battle enjoyable, it's a big step up from [[Most Annoying Sound|"IT'S NO USE!"]]

* [[World of Warcraft|The Cataclysm]] expansion's entire ''raison d'etre'' is to rescue the most hated zones in the game from the Scrappy heap, by nuking them and building new quests around picking up the wreckage. (As this is ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', at least one quest will actually be about picking up wreckage.)

*** In the fight with Krauser, this strategy seems to work entirely on [[Rule of Cool]], as the way to figure out by yourself it is a good strategy would be to be Badass enough to take on Krauser on a knife fight. A reason for the knife working better than guns here is that he moves towards you while dodging bullets moving left or right pretty damn fast, but the knife, being a horizontal attack, manages to hit him pretty well when close enough.

** It probably doesn't hurt that the enemies feel pain in 4 without being made-of-muscle, badass, bio0weapons.

* In ''[[Super Robot Wars Z]]'', they manage this with most of the ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' [[Adaptation Distillation|characters and story]]. Shinn Asuka is less [[Wangst|whiny]] and [[Jerkass|mean]], Stellar Lousier gains some credible intelligence and is more than just a mentally impaired girl, they toned down the "Jesus" and philosophies in Kira "[[God Mode Sue|Jesus]]" Yamato, {{spoiler|Neo Roanoke doesn't just turn into Mu La Flaga out of whim and forget his past life}}, and Gilbert Durandal becomes a respectable villain and still makes sense.

* ''[[Castlevania Judgment]]'' received all kinds of flack ever since it was announced, from reports of terrible controls to [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|heavy bashing of the new artstyle]]. Now that the game is out, the general consensus is that it's a pretty good Wii fighting game with awesome music... among some of the fans, anyway. [[Reviews Are the Gospel|The game critics]] still don't like it.

* ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', which had a similar cold reception, won its way out by repeatedly leaking details to set the [[And the Fandom Rejoiced/Video Games|Fans Rejoicing]].

** His rescue came even earlier: The DS remake of ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' gave him genuinely useful abilities, pleasing design, and a good voice actor.

** And before that, the GBA remake increased the chances of status effects with his attacks, to where he became a legitimate powerhouse.

** Gen IV actually saved a ''[[Elemental Powers|type]]'': [[Green Thumb|Grass]] was inferior to [[Shock and Awe|Electric]] when it came to defeating [[Making a Splash|Water]]-typed Pokémon, due to its poor selection of attacks. Many of them had low base damage, or had high damage but had some limitation (a turn of charge-up, guaranteed to [[Standard Status Effects|Confuse]] your own Pokémon after use, or was only available to one 'mon). Electric had no such problem, thanks to the widespread availability of Thunderbolt. Grass' other selling point, it's ability to hit [[Dishing Out Dirt|Rock- and Ground]]-type Pokémon was undercut by the aforementioned Water type doing the exact same thing plus the fact that any [[Player Versus Environment]] team has a Water type so that they can travel across seas and rivers with Surf. Gen IV added [[Boring but Practical|more reliable]] attacks such as Energy Ball, Seed Bomb, and made Leaf Blade non-exclusive to Sceptile. There's still the overlap when it comes to fighting Rock and Ground types, but at least now Grass can reliably deal good damage to [[Poor Predictable Rock|Crasher Wake's, Misty's, and Cress']] lineups. It get even more saved in gen V, with the introduction of several good grass type such as Ferrothorn, who sports awesome defensive stats, good entry hazards and support movepool, and decent attack stats.

** While gen IV brings it to spotlight, it is not fully save until Gen V saves ''yet another'' type: [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|Bug]]. In previous generations "new Bug types" usually meant "[[Crutch Character|early-game bugs]], usually early evolving as well, whose stats just plain sucked". Also, half of them were Bug/Flying, a typing weak to many attacks. The only ones that were playable were Scyther/Scizor, Yanmega, Nincada family, Heracross and Pineco/Forretress. Gen IV, despite giving Stealth Rock that hinders Bugs, started to save them by giving an instant switch move in U-Turn, which means they can play scouting role while dealing awesome damage, Bug Buzz, which is a good special move for bugs, alongside buffing many bug types, most notably Scizor and its [[That One Attack|infamous Bullet Punch]]. Then Gen V came around and introduced ''eighteen'' bugs. All of them with great stats. Not a single one evolves early. None of them Bug/Flying.

** This seems to be happening to the [[Pokémon Black and White|Generation V]] water starter, Oshawott (or [[Fan Nickname|"Wotter"]]), long before Black and White are even out. When first revealed, Oshawott was largely considered inferior to the other two new starters, and was often bashed even without the comparison. Cue someone creating a comic of a [[The Woobie|poor, cute Oshawott being sad about not getting picked by anyone]], and some speculation that its evolutions may be [[Crazy Awesome|samurai sea otters]]. A lot of people are reconsidering their coming choice of a starter now.

*** Oh, and the samurai sea-otters? [[I Knew It!|IT HAPPENED!]]

** With the [[Hype Backlash]] having died down, and a fair amount of quality games being available for the system, Sony seems to have been pulling off a successful rebranding, with the new PlayStation Slim (countering the accusations of the original being oversized) having a much more subdued ad campaign ("It only does everything.").

* In ''[[Jak II Renegade]]'' the Hellcat was clunky, slow, and generally a piece of crap. ''[[Jak 3]]'' fixed it, upping its firepower, and making it essential for [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|taking down the KG War Factory]].

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Butz/Bartz]], the protagonist from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', isn't really all that bad...he's just dull. To make it worse, his main adversary Exdeath is - well, [[When Trees Attack|a tree]]. Then ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' came along and made him into an actually likable character, with a design that found balance somehow between his forgettable sprite and his somewhat... odd [[Yoshitaka Amano|Amano]] design. Even his blandness and lack of character angst compared to the other heroes get mocked properly. Plus, dual wielding the two most badass weapons in the whole series? Who wouldn't be loved after doing that?

** Natalia is probably the most likely to be considered the Scrappy since she is as sheltered as Luke, but also casually lords her position over others and orders Guy about. {{spoiler|Then you find out she's practically the soft-touch of the King's rule and as helped set-up social institutions, like a hospital. Kinda need those. Wasn't even retconned either as before the scene it's brought up in, random npc's in Baticul will mention her efforts.}}

* The [[Batman]]: [[Batman: Arkham Asylum|Arkham Series]], especially ''[[Batman: Arkham City]]'', has done wonders for many of Batman's foes, primarily for non-comic readers. Villains who were seldom taken seriously or not well-known have had their popularity boosted by these games. The Penguin as a [[Fat Bastard]] and dangerous psychopath who tortures cops with glee, the Riddler using ''[[Saw]]'' style traps that are [[Nightmare Fuel]] incarnate, Calendar Man telling creepy stories on different holidays about murders he committed on said holiday, and the list goes on.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Chris Hazelton, author of ''[[Misfile]]'', lampshades fan reaction to the comic's resident Scrappy, Missi's, rescue from the heap in [http://www.misfile.com/?page=1016 this strip].

** She's still getting in the way of Ash and Emily's relationship, so [[Die for Our Ship|she's not out of the woods yet]].

* Marigold from ''[[Questionable Content]]'' . During her first appearances she was [[Acceptable Target|your stereotypical otaku/ gamer nerd]]: far less attractive than any other character, a virgin, ridiculously slobby, a stereotypical [[Yaoi Fangirl]] with bad skin and [[No Social Skills]]. The first story arc she was used in involved her lusting after a guy who wanted another girl (one of the main characters) instead, and was written in such a clumsy way that implied [[Unfortunate Implications|otaku/geek-girls are untouchable]]. She still ends up as the [[Butt Monkey]] a lot and the [[Pair the Spares|the implied beginnings of a relationship with Dale, who she has no real chemistry with]] is a little annoying. Lately, she's become a lot more likable (and less offensive), with her appearance being updated ( [[Art Evolution|or to be more accurate, "completely changed"]]), quickly getting over her crush after she learns it wasn't viable and being less mopey and self-obsessed than most of other main characters.

* Lyonel from ''[[Samurai Princess]]'' was introduced in such a way ( {{spoiler|Giving a well liked character a [[Traumatic Haircut]]}}) that he was doomed from the start. He is now becoming a more likable and enjoyable character.

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League Unlimited]]''

{{quote|'''Aquaman:''' King of the seas, remember?}}

*** This actually began with [[Peter David]]'s work on Aquaman in the late nineties, though the JLU origin for the hook hand was far more cool.

*** ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' continues the Descrappification process by depicting him as a [[Large Ham]] and a [[Boisterous Bruiser]]. "Outrageous!!!"

{{quote|"King of the seas, remember?"}}

** [http://i44.tinypic.com/oshgfp.jpg HOW DO YA LIKE ME NOW!?]

* ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'' did this with the Aqualad mantle by replacing Garth, a character widely mocked for having the same "useless" powers as Aquaman and wearing ridiculous short-shorts, with Kaldur'ahm, an Atlantean child soldier who can create weaponry from water and generate powerful electrical blasts.

** Even moreso for Sportsmaster, a Z-list supervillain from [[The Golden Age of Comic Books]] [[Adaptational Badass|who gets reimagined]] as a [[Badass Normal]] mercenary.

*** The show in general has a habit of turning various villains into rightous [[Adaptational Badass|badasses]], even those who were pretty good before. Mister Twister was suddenly a huge threat, and Clayface (not an unpopular villain before) became downright fucking ''[[Nightmare Fuel|terrifying]]''.

** Daphne herself went from a [[Damsel Scrappy]] to one of the coolest characters over the years.

*** ''Aloha, Scooby Doo'' is practically a manifesto on rescuing Daphne from the Scrappy Heap. She dons a [[Bare Your Midriff|midriff-baring]] version of her traditional outfit - when she isn't just wearing a bikini - and the plot hinges on the world-class [http://www.southseascinema.org/Toon%20Images/Aloha%20Scooby%20Doo%20Daphne%20surfing%202%20crop.jpg surfing abilities] you probably didn't know she had (it's not like it would have come up often).

*** And now in ''[[Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated|Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated]]'', she gets to temporarily join the Hex Girls and sing an [[Crowning Music of Awesome|incredibly badass goth rock song]], "Trap Of Love". [[Character Development]] is a beautiful thing.

* Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson of ''[[Ben 10]]'' was [[Base Breaker|polarizing]], with opinions varying from "obnoxious [[Mary Sue]] who just annoys Ben" to "[[Only Sane Man|The only one with any sense or responsibility]]". However, after the [[Time Skip]] for ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'', she's much more soft-spoken and Ben isn't doing nearly enough crap for her to complain about, which was enough to satisfy plenty of her haters, [[Broken Base|while the people who liked her beforehand now hate her.]]

* Dil and Kimi, despite being loathed Scrappies in ''[[Rugrats]]'', were actually quite liked when they became preteens in ''[[All Grown Up!]]''. Although some argue that Kimi's personality took a [[Little Miss Snarker|turn for the worse]].

** On the flip side, some Bootniks, especially the older ones, found ''Matrix'' to be the undesirable one due to his unexpected one-eighty and excessive angst.

*** And then young Enzo was brought back, so you had both Enzo and Matrix. Everyone is happy! Or everyone is unhappy...?

* Spyke from ''[[X-Men: Evolution|X-Men Evolution]]'' was changed from an underdeveloped [[Totally Radical]] [[Token Minority|Token Black Guy]] with powers that were unintentionally similar to an existing X-Man to a maturing [[Badass]] hero for the downtrodden Morlocks with cartilage armor and the ability to light his spikes on fire. Many Spyke detractors liked the change but unlike [[X-23]], [[Canon Foreigner|it wasn't enough to get him in the comic]]. He did have a counterpart in the third movie, but he was a villain.

** Spyke ''did'' appear in the comics as a member of the X-Force (which later became X-Statix)...although as [[Canon Immigrant|canon immigrants]] go, this wasn't a very good one; Comic Spike was a beefy, arrogant adult instead of a wiry, carefree teenager. They didn't even have the same real name...but the inspiration, at least, was clear.

** His appearance in ''Final Wars'' also helped, where he acted like a true kaiju and decimated Sydney, Australia by himself.

* A controversial example would be [[The Simpsons (animation)|Lisa Simpson]]. Some have always loved her, while others think she became a scrappy in later seasons, once she turned from [[The Smart Guy]] into a [[Soapbox Sadie]]. For the latter group, the show's last three seasons should seem like a good example of this trope. Starting from season 19, the show has had an unwritten ban on stories where Lisa gets involved in politics, in favor of returning her to her roots as a socially isolated smart girl.

** [[Stalker with a Crush|Sierra]] has always been and remains a [[Base Breaker]], but even many detractors will admit that she's more tolerable in the last few episodes of season three, when some quick and long-needed [[Character Development]] has her finally realize that she should treat [[Cool Loser|Cody]] more like [[Better as Friends|a friend]] than a prize to be won.

* ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars|Star Wars the Clone Wars]]''

* Bucky Buenaventura spent the first season of ''[[The Zeta Project]]'' as an insufferable little borderline sociopath. He reappears in Season 2 with a flattering redesign, a new voice actor, a reasonable grasp of common sense and friendship, and a mild (and hilarious) crush on Ro, but keeps the mad hacking skills and snarky dialogue. The overall result takes him from horrendous brat to surprisingly likable [[The Lancer|lancer]].

* Sandy Cheeks of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' began as a somewhat grating [[God Mode Sue]] and near [[Purity Sue|incorruptible]] [[Only Sane Man]] for the other far more flawed cast members. Following the second season however, the show began to [[Lampshade Hanging]] Sandy's somewhat excessive talents and also [[Character Development|develop]] [[Cloudcuckoolander|some]] [[Small Name, Big Ego|valid]] [[Large Ham|flaws]] for the character (episodes such as "Pressure" and "SpongeBob, Sandy and the Worm" seemed to focus largely how Sandy ''wasn't'' good at everything). Ironically she is arguably the one main character in the newer episodes that hasn't had her [[Jerkass|callous]] or [[Too Dumb to Live|idiotic]] habits heavily [[Flanderization|Flanderized]], almost making her a single rescuee of the show's ever-growing Scrappy Heap.

* Nabu from ''[[Winx Club]]'' wasn't a very popular character when he was first introduced in season 3. Understandable, seeing as he was introduced late into that season, didn't get much [[Character Development]] and it was pretty obvious that he was [[Shallow Love Interest|just there to give Layla a love interest]]. He didn't even appear in the first movie apart from a brief cameo appearance at the very end. Season 4 gave him some more [[Character Development]] and some chances to show off his awesome magical fighting skills, which quickly helped make him a lot more popular. There's also Roxy, who was introduced in that season. At first the fans were a bit skeptical to her as they felt a seventh fairy wasn't necessary, but as the season progressed the fans seemed to warm up to her as she became more confident with being a fairy.

* Cubert from ''[[Futurama]]'' lost his oft-annoying skepticism at the end of his debut episode.

* [[Great Gazoo|Bat-Mite]] in ''[[The New Adventures of Batman]]'' was generally hated. In ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'', he provides a lot of humor to make up for it.

* [[Ant-Man]] and to a lesser extent [[The Wasp]] [[Never Live It Down/Comic Books|haven't had the greatest reputation in comic books]] so, it seems likely that their rather different and much more sympathetic portrayals in ''[[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes|Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes]]'' is an intent to do this. Instead of a mentally unstable wife-beater, Ant-Man is one of the most moral team members, and rather than being a [[Rich Bitch]], Wasp is a likable [[Non-Idle Rich]] [[Genki Girl]].

* Lola Bunny first appeared in ''[[Space Jam]]'' as a seemingly flawless tomboy clearly added simply to fulfill [[The Smurfette Principle]]. She later appeared in ''[[The Looney Tunes Show]]'' as a neurotic [[Stalker with a Crush]]. A number of people find her funnier this way. The fact that she's dressing more modestly for a change and having her voluptuous figure toned down to make her seem like more of an [[The Ingenue|Ingenue]] rather than a [[Ms. Fanservice]] helps.

* Irving from ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', though never technically an official Scrappy, was definitely a [[Base Breaker]]: Half the fans hated him, the other half related to him and liked him. After his first appearance, though, he was given more [[Character Development]] beyond just being the [[Loony Fan]] that follows the boys around, and fans are now much more agreeing and accepting of him.

** The Episode ''Baby Cakes'' even managed to do this to baby ponies for some people. For a long time, they were a popular target due to their oddly anthropomorphic shapes arguably ruining the appeal of ponies. Then this episode used their similarities to real human babies to advance a meaningful plot.

*** [[Serious Business|There were also a lot of viewers concerned]] that Hasbro [[Merchandise-Driven|ordered the show to have another winged unicorn.]] This was supposed to be a special thing for the royal sisters, but Cadance more than proved that she is as awesome as them.

** Rainbow Dash was also flirting with [[Creator's Pet]] territory in early season two with too much of a focus on her arrogance and having her act like a jerk without the [[Jerkass With a Heart of Gold|heart of gold]] trait she's better known for. The second half of the season with episodes such as "Read It and Weep" and "Hurricane Fluttershy" have been working on making her a more likable character again.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Scrappy Index]]

[[Category:Index to The Rescue]]

[[Category:YMMV Trope]]

[[Category:Esoteric Trope Names]]