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What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Difference between revisions
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The idea of a fandom and/or characters in a series disliking someone simply for not living up to the level of [[Badass|Badassery]] that would be expected of the series or genre. Even more so if a little Angst is involved: expect that someone to be called out as [[Wangst|wangsty]].
Expect an inherent [[Double Standard]] in this trope, with men who do not live to the expectation of badassery being consigned to the eternal fires of [[The Scrappy|being called out as "wimpy".]] But this trope is not only for men... in fact, women are almost always hit the hardest with it: a [[Yamato Nadeshiko|non action]] [[The Chick|girl]], or a [[
If the character in question is far more badass than the fandom gives them credit for, they may well be [[Underestimating Badassery]]. In rare cases, the fandom know that a character is badass, but dislikes them all the same, either because the character isn't "badass enough" or because they are badass for reasons other than, for example, fighting ability. A quick way to test this is to think about what a character actually does in fiction, and wait to see if any [[Fridge Logic]] emerges.
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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* [[The White Prince|Mytho]] from ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' sometimes gets flak for this from the fandom, thanks to being a [[
* [[Unlucky Everydude|Ganta]] from ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' is often lamented to be a useless, cowardly pansy, with many fans much preferring [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Crow]] (who is often declared the most [[Badass]] character in that series). They seem to be ignoring the fact that Ganta is only 14 (compared to Crow, who is obviously much older than him) and was just a normal student who never really got into fights, and who is also ''new'' to Deadman Wonderland.
* Yukki from ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'', in that he is a young boy who was forced into a very violent world. He spends the first 20-30 chapters crying and running away. Then he [[Break the Cutie|gets broken]] and [[Took a Level In Badass|takes a Level in Badass]].
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** Fuu does start out rather spoiled, dragging along the two bodyguards without any planning. It's not so much that she influences the other protagonists (though one would argue that she's the primary instigator); they all contribute to their own developments. At a certain point, none of them want to be separated and learn their own personal lessons.
* Happens in the ''[[One Piece]]'' fandom too. If they're not badass, THEY SUCK AND ARE ANNOYING AND WEAK, no questions asked. [[Fan Dumb|Apparently, to many fans it matters not if a character is intelligent, has a wonderful heart, or has a strong moral compass.]] And never mind that many of the badasses on this show never would have gotten anywhere or would be dead by now if not for the 'weak' characters.
* Shinji Ikari from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has many moments of angst, cowardice, selfishness, and reluctance and outright refusal to fight, but also has plenty of moments of heroism, bravery and absurdly awesome feats. But according to some people he is ''[[Never Live It Down|always]]'' the former and the latter are anomalies that should be ignored in favour of mocking him. (Or, in the instance of [[Shinji and
** Shinji was the audience stand-in with some wish-fulfillment thrown in. He was expected to grow into a badass, as with other shounen leads. When he didn't meet audience expectations, some audience members saw it as [[Take That|an attack]] [[This Loser Is You|against them]]. This would also explain why there are so many fix-fics where Shinji turns into what's expected from a shounen lead. One critic even pointed out that if Shinji had been female, Shinji would be far more popular and sympathetic (with Japanese audiences at least).
*** It also may explain why female EVA fans sometimes tend to be more sympathetic to Shinji's plight than male fans. [[Ho Yay|That, and there's Kaworu...]]
* For viewers of the anime version of ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' unfamiliar with the VN, Shirou wasn't [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] until he finally subverted this trope. The early part of the series lacked the justifying and mitigating motivations behind Shirou's behavior, and revealed relatively late in the story how painful and potentially life-threatening his independent practice of magic was to him.
** Also, Sakura in the VN. She is a [[
* Madoka Kaname from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' is [[The Scrappy|condemned by the fanbase]] for being [[Wangst|emotionally crushed]] by all that happens to her and not react with violence or bitchiness, as well as hesitate in becoming a [[Magical Girl]] after {{spoiler|her big sister mentor Mami dies ''horribly''}}. The fanbase just ignores the parts on the fact that being a Magical Girl involves a [[Deal with the Devil]] and a lifetime of servitude {{spoiler|and as we eventually realize, turning into an [[Eldritch Abomination]]}} for a single wish that [[Be Careful What You Wish For|you are very likely to screw up]], and how Homura actively keeps Madoka from agreeing to such. Oh, and when her emotional breakdown reaches its current peak in episode 6 where she loses it and {{spoiler|tries to stop Sayaka from fighting Kyouko by throwing away her Soul Gem, not knowing the effects of said action}}, the [[Fan Dumb]] calls her out as a "stupid bitch".
** And in some circles, '''very bad things''' have been said about {{spoiler|Sayaka and Mami}} after the first's {{spoiler|[[Freak-Out]] and transformation into a Witch}} and the second {{spoiler|going mad after learning the [[Awful Truth]] in the third timeline.}}
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* Dr. Keller suffered from this a bit in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. While the other doctors in the show are also pretty non-action-oriented, Keller's fragility, especially when contrasted with Teyla's hardy survival instincts in the episode "Missing", do make her a boring character for some. To be fair, she isn't a soldier, but Rodney's been pretty badass since his big sacrifice in the second episode, so Keller does look pretty weak by comparison.
* This happens a ''lot'' with Guinevere in the ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' fandom, with her portrayal caught in a quagmire of [[Die for Our Ship]], [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses]], and a [[Misaimed Fandom]] that believes Morgana is a great feminist icon. Where to start? On the surface, Guinevere is essentially portrayed as a [[Shrinking Violet]], a stark contrast to Morgana as a [[Spirited Young Lady]]. Morgana gets to do lots of cool things: [[Action Girl|sword-fight]], telekenetically throw people through the air, [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|stand up to King Uther]] and wear [[Gorgeous Period Dress|gorgeous costumes]]. Guinevere's role is to be Arthur's [[Love Interest]], Merlin's [[Black Best Friend]], and is often accused of being an [[Extreme Doormat]].
** However, this is a ''huge'' simplification of each woman's characterization and [[Character Arc]]: namely that Morgana's [[Sliding Down the Slippery Slope|fall into evil]] was marked by her [[It's All About Me]] attitude in which she ranks her own grievances and pain against the needs of others and begins a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against not just Uther, but ''everyone'', including innocent people. In contrast, Guinevere (who is also deeply wronged by Uther when he has her innocent father executed) rises above her inner turmoil and explicitly refuses wallow in hate. Many fans seem to have ''completely'' missed the juxtapositioning of Guinevere's declaration that she would never seek vengeance against Uther because: "that would make me just like him" with the recent observations by ''several'' characters that Morgana is now no different from Uther. It also fails to take into account the fact that Morgana is quite often a [[Faux Action Girl]], with plans that are ill-thought out and fail ''constantly'', whereas Guinevere's attempts at proactivity have a far higher success rate (retrieving the morteus flower from the dungeon, arguing on behalf of the women in Ealdor, escaping Helios's men by submerging herself in the river). Though Guinevere has played the [[
*** It's a classic example of style over substance - in this case, Guinevere's decency, patience and kind heart is no match for Morgana's glamourous life-style. As [http://www.racialicious.com/2011/10/18/fandom-and-its-hatred-of-black-women-characters/ this] article puts it:
{{quote|''Merlin fandom seems to believe that Morgana’s treacherous magical girl ass is a more empowering role model for women than Guinevere’s steady, quiet strength''.}}
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** Don't forget how [[Action Girl]] and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race Girl]] Lyndis aka Lyn is used as pretty much THE yardstick by which a lot of FE females are measured. I.e., lead female Eirika from ''[[Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones]]'' is often compared disfavorably to Lyn, and "weaker" females like Ninian, Florina or Nino are hotly bashed for "not being strong women" like Lyn is.
** The aforementioned Eirika is often put under the microscope, nitpicked and/or downright bashed for being a sensitive Nice Girl aside of [[The Messiah]] and the [[Action Girl]], with some even openly ''denying that both she and Ephraim are the protagonists of the game''... saying Ephraim is the only lead. WTF.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'''s Raiden got a lot of flak from fanboys, mostly for being a [[Replacement Scrappy]] for Solid Snake, but attributed to him being a "weak, [[Bishonen|overly-feminine]] character" (despite the fact that he fought well, ''taking down several Metal Gears, killing the [[Big Bad]]'', and did far better than most people could have done in his [[Gambit Pileup|profoundly shitty situation]], leaving with renewed purpose, the [["Well Done, Son" Guy|respect]] of his mentor, a renewed relationship with the woman he loved, and with the child of a castmate still alive). ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' reinvented him to be a cyborg ninja, and these days, he's a lot more popular - even though his ninja self spent half of the game dying slowly of kidney failure and the other half whining about his awful situation (something which in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' he would have tried to deal with) and taking orders from a little girl. It just goes to show how shallow this trope (and/or people's standards of Badassery) is; Raiden was judged pathetic because of his [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|appearance]] (his actions apparently did not matter).
** Also an example of [[Misaimed Fandom]]. Metal Gear Solid 2 revolved around the idea of Raiden rejecting puppetry and not being pigeon-holed into the role of Solid Snake in favor of finding his own identity. He kinda-sorta succeeded, and he had a reasonably hopeful ending. Come Metal Gear Solid 4, and Raiden has [[Shaggy Dog Story|been forced into the role of Cyborg Ninja]]. Fanboys think this is awesome, when in the context of the series it is decidedly not.
* The title character of the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series gets this a lot. His actual viewpoint (except for in the seventh game) is that he'd rather not fight, but does because he feels he has to. But because he wishes he didn't have to go to war, he's usually portrayed as a pansy and/or gay (though the latter has more to do with the [[Ho Yay]] between him and Zero). Zero, by contrast, is a [[Badass]] killbot with a laser sword, who enjoys [[Kicking Ass and Taking Names]], and is thus ''much'' more popular.
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