Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Forum administrators, Interface administrators, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
117,086
edits
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Difference between revisions
De-recentified examples, CAPS to italics
Looney Toons (talk | contribs) (De-recentified examples, CAPS to italics) |
|||
Line 49:
*** And the cherry on top of that cherry is that depending on how you see it, ''Kate'' is at fault as well for the murder. he died because she got captured trying to get him out of the army and he died trying to save ''her''. Some fans wonder if he might have survived had she just left him in the army.
* Cirilo Rivera from ''[[Carrusel]]''. His [[All Love Is Unrequited|unrequited crush]] on [[Tsundere|Maria Joaquina]] sometimes bordered on obsession. He never stalked her—let alone hurt her -- [[Dogged Nice Guy|but he did not give up on her no matter how much she turned him down]]. And let's face it—she was out of his league, which has NOTHING to do with their being of different races or even socioeconomic statuses; she, well, just didn't like him that way. But '''he would not stop''', and kept showering her with gifts and attentions that she ''clearly'' didn't want and either upset her or creeped her out. Viewers were supposed to take Cirilo's side... but Maria Joaquina ended up [[Unintentionally Sympathetic|being the one often favored by the audience instead]], since in practice, nobody blamed her for not loving a kid ''that'' clingy (and borderline creepy) back.
* In
== Newspaper Comics ==
* Anthony from ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', so very very much. You're supposed to feel sympathy for him because his wife doesn't want their baby and he "doesn't have a home," but not only is it irritating, it rubs in the fact that he harassed her into having a child she didn't want in the first place. He lost even more ground when it came to light that he even ''promised'' that ''he'' would stay home with the kid, but had ''no intention'' of keeping that promise because he expected the magic of motherhood to kick in and somehow make his wife want to quit her job (which was heavily implied to make more than his did) and raise the kid anyways. But she's supposed to be the bad guy for wanting him to keep his promise and because she's not maternal.
**
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[South Park]]'' parodies this numerous times. For instance, when Eric Cartman contracts HIV he constantly reminds people of it for sympathy, and any time something bad happens to Cartman, he attempts to milk sympathy and fails.
{{quote| '''Cartman''': I'm not just sure: I'm HIV positive.}}
* In ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'', [[Base Breaker|Lance]]'s romantic subplot with Kitty starts with him saving her life -- from an accident that ''he caused''. He had also previously attempted to attack Kitty, and due to the nature of his powers, he tends to cause a lot of collateral damage (sometimes near schools populated by children who [[Fridge Horror|are never confirmed to have gotten out alive]]). [[Your Mileage May Vary|To some people]], all this makes it kind of hard to believe that Kitty would want him for a boyfriend. This also puts him in the somewhat unusual situation of being a common victim of both [[Ron the Death Eater]]
** A weird inversion actually happens because of this. The time Avalanche ''did'' attempt a [[Heel Face Turn]], Scott doesn't buy it and proceeds to mistrust him. This is made out to be wrong of Scott, except, he '''is''' completely justified in mistrusting him: Lance was actually his biggest rival and ''had'' pulled crap on him and others before. While we (as the audience) knew that Lance ''was'' trying to [[Love Redeems|do good things for Kitty's sake]], Scott simply lacked such knowledge since Lance ''had'' given him reason to be antagonistic, and thus it's understandable to have him not trust Lance off the bat, and it would've been [[Out of Character]] otherwise.
* Brian from ''[[Family Guy]]''. The audience is obviously supposed to feel sorry for him since he's a [[Starving Artist]] [[Surrounded by Idiots|living in a world of idiots]], but he's so arrogant and [[Anvilicious|prone to dropping anvils]] that he just comes off as a [[Jerkass]].
** Ironically, when Quagmire called him out on everything in one episode, ''he'' became unintentionally unsympathetic, as many found it hypocritical for Quagmire to be saying these things to Brian and felt he had no right to. That his hatred for Brain got [[Flanderization|flanderized]] since then, with Brian coming out more sympathetic in their encounters, hasn't helped.
* Cree Lincoln from ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' fits this ''perfectly''. While some people treat her like a [[Draco in Leather Pants]], she's [[The Scrappy|utterly loathed]] because of this. While is pretty clear she's a treacherous villain, we're supposed to sympathize with her because deep down loves her heroic little sister [[The Quiet One|Abby/Numbuh 5]] and wants to reconcile with her. Except she spends all the time [[Big Brother Bully|treating her like
** What makes her particularly loathsome is that her status as a villain does ''not'' excuse her abusive behavior towards her sister. Many other villains who are ''supposed'' to be worse than her ([[Corrupt Corporate Executive|Mr. Boss]], for example) treat their fellow family members [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|with love and respect]], even if they're on the heroic side. Heck, it goes to the point '''[[Big Bad|Father himself]]''' is considered [[Draco in Leather Pants|far]] [[Unintentionally Sympathetic|more]] [[Jerkass Woobie|sympathetic]] by comparison!
** Chad Dickson in "Operation: T.R.E.A.T.Y" manages to surpass Cree in this department. {{spoiler|He's meant to be seen as a [[Jerkass Woobie|sympathetic]] [[Reverse Mole]] for the KND}}, and that reveal ''would'' have inspired sympathy had he not {{spoiler|tried to ''[[Moral Event Horizon|outright kill Nigel/Numbuh One out of petty jealousy]]'' (which was something that wasn't ordered by his superiors)}} and acted like a complete and utter [[Incredibly Lame Pun|dick]] throughout the whole series. While Nigel/Numbuh One is shown to be regretful over how their relationship had turned out, most of the audience only felt sorry for Nigel.
| |||