Resident Freak
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Normal Person: I hate you [webname]. —A genuine forum chat conversation with a Resident Freak setting themselves up for some abuse. The chat can only go downhill from here...
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Many large forums have one or two Online Personas who take on the role known as the Resident Freak - a member of The Old Guard who puts on a Jerkass Facade of stupidity, perversity or a Hair-Trigger Temper. They may fake Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny and switch their Avatar every few weeks. Many strive to be seen as a Loveable Sex Maniac. They may come off as a Real Life Cloudcuckoolander. In any case, rather than cause trouble for other people, they do their job by drawing animosity towards themselves and they are usually incredibly amicable - there is almost nothing you can say that will genuinely offend them. They are by their own designs the Butt Monkey of the entire board and are almost always an Acceptable Target - at least to their faces. Despite this, they're pretty high in the Forum Pecking Order.
They are not merely a Troll passing through, but a long-time member of the board, sometimes from almost the origin of the board's history. Their goal is to ensure that Hilarity Ensues in whatever topic they post in, and they strive to make other posters feel more intelligent. The average Resident Freak is an appalling Attention Whore.
Their tactics vary. One is deliberately displaying huge ignorance about the topic - perhaps getting some fundamental facts wrong or expressing a controversial view on a topic. If they're in a news topic, they will deliberately post BEFORE reading the link to the article. Another is displaying weird behaviour such as sexual fetishes and strange hobbies that they encourage other people to mock. They will NEVER ignore any attention, positive or negative, and they are frequent and vocal posters.
They are not always direct friends of the board administrators and moderators - in fact the best ones don't need to be, integrating themselves seamlessly into the new community despite being almost a complete stranger to all on the board, going from one post, to hundreds without anybody noticing.
However, just because everybody makes fun of the Freak, doesn't mean you can just Kick the Dog. One certain way to lose board popularity in a hurry is to badmouth them behind their backs - it's even less acceptable than breaking trust with The Shepherd, since the Freak has so few weapons to fight back with. Do so and you'll surely meet heavy support for them and genuine loathing for you being so sneaky and cruel to somebody so good-natured.
Despite their lewd behaviour they remain on the board - the price they must pay for this is that a huge proportion of board animosity is directed at them, and those who insult them rarely get punished. A long-time, experienced Resident Freak is often entertaining rather than enraging, like a favorite pet. Many boards claim that the place just wouldn't be the same without somebody that stupid, arrogant or weird.
Be wary of banning them! Despite a lack of official power, the Freak can contribute hugely to the popularity of a board, and skilled Freaks are not easy to come by. In rare cases, a particularly experienced and popular Resident Freak may be banned by a particularly naive Moderator. Thanks to their role as an Acceptable Target, the Freak has an uncanny talent for neutralising Flame Wars early and spotting Trolls. The board may find that it collapses into anarchy without somebody who finds it fun to take the brunt of the board's abuse, and even large forums have been known to collapse without them within weeks.
A Freak gains near-immunity from being banned at the sacrifice of official power - Freaks do not become Moderators or Admins. If they do, then they must stop being a Freak and get serious. They must also be prepared to be ridiculed on a regular basis by members old and new alike, become the targets of jokes, and rarely be supported by other posters. The most likely start to somebody agreeing with a Resident Freak is "I can't believe I'm agreeing with them" or "He/She is actually making sense for once."
However there's a good reason that skilled Freaks are rare and valued beasts - becoming one is a one-way trip, and if the journey is completed they must accept they may never be taken seriously on that board again. A Resident Freak In Training must be cautious when they are new to a board, as leaping into a board just to insult people or derail topics is not advised and may well result in a hasty ban - the accomplished Freak however becomes weirder and more hilarious over time, with other posters eventually deciding they are either comparable to a favourite pet, or a strange rash that you can't remember ever not having. In either case they feel compelled to give it a scratch.
When arguing with a Freak it is wise to remember that they have incredible stamina and are not going to give in as long as you're giving them attention. The Freak is also good at spotting and encouraging Bright Young Things.
Compare A Darker Me, and the GIFT.
No real life examples, please; "One certain way to lose board popularity in a hurry is to badmouth them behind their backs," and this is definitely behind the backs of any forum other that All The Tropes' own.
Web Original
- Ss4gogeta0 is one of the more, well known examples of this trope... as shown by this exchange between a group of admins...
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Sp33d: he had 2 perma bans @ ab |
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