Took a Level in Jerkass: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"You used to be [[Nice Guy|sweeter than honey]]! Now you're getting all kinds of nasty!"''
|'''LeShawna,''' referring to Geoff, ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama Action]]''}}
When a character grows into a [[Jerkass]] over time (sometimes not much of it at all). Can be due to [[Flanderization]], a [[Face Heel Turn]], or just another regular but unfortunate [[Character Development]]. While a [[Jerkass]] growing into a [[Jerk
This can also cause tropes like [[What the Hell, Hero?]], though whether if the character changes for the better after that is well [[Depending
See also: [[Took a Level
If this happens in prison, it is [[Had to Come to Prison to Be a Crook]]. If it happens as a result of aquiring a debilitating injury or illness, it is a case of [[Disability as an Excuse For Jerkassery]]. When associated with a change in wealth, social status or the like, often overlaps with [[Acquired Situational Narcissism]].
{{examples}}▼
Can happen a lot [[GIFT|over the internet]]. Please restrain from adding [[Real Life]] examples, in order not to [[Self-Demonstrating Article|become an example yourself]].
== Anime and Manga == ▼
* Due to unexplained happenings during the [[Time Skip]], Hei of ''[[Darker Than Black (Anime)|Darker Than Black]]'' has gone from a ruthless [[Anti-Hero]], to a ''drunk'' ruthless [[Anti-Hero]] with an unwanted [[Morality Pet]]. {{spoiler|Hei had been nicknamed "Chinese Electric [[Batman]]", but unfortunately, he's just "Chinese Batman" since he was [[Brought Down to Badass]].}}▼
{{noreallife|calling a real person a "jerkass" [[rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|is not complimentary]].}}
* ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'' uses this trope every now and then, such as in the Hueco Mundo arc with Ichigo's infamous scene with his childhood friend Tatsuki demanding to know why their classmate Orihime had suddenly vanished. The dialogue seemed to be setting up for a classic "[[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]" speech, but instead he coldly told her that it had nothing to do with her. The very next page is him getting his head put through a window. There is also the scene where Yamamoto deems Orihime a traitor shortly after being kidnapped (which is a big reason why some fans deem him a [[Knight Templar]]). While both of those characters received a fairly substantial amount of [[What the Hell, Hero?]] plenty of fans have felt that they could have handled those situations a lot better.▼
▲{{examples}}
▲* Due to unexplained happenings during the [[Time Skip]], Hei of ''[[Darker
▲* ''[[
** In fairness, even if Yamamoto had handled that a lot more gracefully, Ichigo being the [[Leeroy Jenkins|hot head]] that he is would have rushed into Hueco Mundo anyway.
*** The earlier example with Ichigo was actually a [[Jerkass Facade]] on his part because he was attempting to push his friends away knowing full well he was getting ready to go on a near suicide mission that would easily get them all killed.
* Guts from ''[[
* Canute in ''[[
* Suzaku from ''[[
* Amy Rose of ''[[
* Oh Lordy, Nakai from ''[[
* ''[[
* Chiba and Maho from ''[[
* ''[[
** Let's not forget Sasuke.
* ''[[
* A [[Justified Trope]] in the case of {{spoiler|Tem Ray}} in ''[[
* Arguably, Medaka of ''[[
* Takanashi from ''[[Working
* Chiaki Yoshino from [[Sekaiichi Hatsukoi]] went from [[Innocently Insensitive|bratty but well meaning]] [[Adult Child]] to immature [[Jerkass]]. This might be justified as he's dating his best friend Hatori who is a [[Yandere]] and given that {{spoiler|he was [[Rape
== Comic Books ==
* The title character of ''[[
* [[Ant-Man|Hank Pym]] in the [[Marvel Universe]], though this fluctuates [[Depending
* Although he was already kind of a jerk, [[
* [[Batman]] has an on-and-off again history of this. ''[[All
* Nearly every incarnation of [[Incredible Hulk
** Then again, it's The Hulk. His superpower is taking a level in both badass and jerkass.
* Most of the [[New Mutants]] in recent years, but especially [[New Mutants/Characters|Cannonball]].
* [[Namor]] with his oxygen-processing problem.
* [[Power Girl]] with her diet soda processing problem.
* Cyclops in ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', getting more and more obnoxious since Utopia.
* In his earlier appearances, Curt Connors of ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' was a reasonably sympathetic character when he wasn't [[Super-Powered Evil Side|the Lizard]], and even as the Lizard retained some protective instincts towards his family. He was [[
* ''Everybody'' in Archie Comics' [[Sonic the Hedgehog (
* Batman to a ''huge'' extent in ''[[
* In [[
▲== Fan Fic ==
▲* In [[Keepers of the Elements (Fanfic)|Keepers of the Elements]], Courtney starts off as her usual bossy, [[Jerkass]] self, but then goes up [[Over Nine Thousand]] levels when she {{spoiler|[[Deal With the Devil|makes a deal]] with [[Big Bad|Radcliffe]] for powers of her own so she can get revenge on [[The Leader|Gwen]]}}
* In the Disgaea fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6984913/1/Disgaea_Jewel_of_the_gods Disgaea: Jewel of the gods] Laharl is a HUGE [[Jerkass]] to Adell, and Mao not even caring if they died, while in canon, he has a [[Hidden Heart of Gold]] for people.
** Well to be fair, [[Morality Chain|Flonne]] isn't there most of the time, making him a complete asshole to most people.
** He also REALLY hates Adell and Mao for being main characters in the sequels to Disgaea.
== Film ==
* ''[[Beauty and
* Anakin Skywalker from ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* Harry Osborn in the ''[[Spider-Man (
* ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'': Glenn Guglia morphs from a normal, loving fiance to a caricature of a [[Handsome Lech]].
* ''[[
* Ash of the ''[[
* Abigail from the ''[[National Treasure]]'' series seems to take one between the first and second movies. In the first movie, she starts out as a tad bitchy, but really not without reason given the crap she ends up in thanks to Ben. By the end of the movie, she's considerably nicer and has evolved into a proper [[Love Interest]]. When the second movie comes around, she's reverted to the beginning of the first movie and gone even further, being ''
* Sarah Connor in ''[[Terminator (
* Clopin from ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' is first introduced as the colorful narrator of the film, and the master of ceremonies at the Feast of Fools, where he was very kind to Quasimodo. However, near the end of the movie, he is now the bitter judge (his hand puppet serving as Quasi's defense) presiding over the Court of Miracles, and is now very mean to not only Quasimodo, but also Phoebus as well, and as a result he wanted the two both sentenced to death for being spies of [[Complete Monster|Frollo]] (they were actually working against Frollo, not for him). Had Esmeralda not showed up at the Court of Miracles to stop Clopin and tell him that both Quasi and Phoebus are trying to help them, Clopin would had actually killed them both.
** This seems to be more about [[Hidden Depths]] than becoming more of a jerk - Clopin's mostly rather genial on the outside, but he's ''also'' secretly the leader of an insurgence desperate to stop a madman's oppression of his people (so he's a bit of a [[Stepford Smiler]]). He was likely exercising caution to protect his people and simply acted hastily - though he ''could'' have at least waited for their side before passing immediate judgement, true, it's unlikely he would have believed them without Esmeralda vouching for them, and one must remember that Phoebus was the Captain of the Guard prior to this event (information which had likely not yet reached Clopin), so yeah...
* Janet from ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' if you consider ''[[
* In ''[[Deep Rising]]'', {{spoiler|Simon Canton}}'s plan at first was to destroy the ship {{spoiler|as an insurance scam}}, but to make it so all of the passengers live. Later though, he uses the others as bait so he can escape himself, and tries to kill Trillian and steal Finnegan's boat. {{spoiler|Fortunately though, he meets a Karmic Death in the end}}.
* Loki in ''[[
** The first Thor movie also ends with Loki having an apparent mental breakdown and choosing death in the interdimensional void over reconciling with his family. It's literally [[Villainous Breakdown|Villainous Breakdown: The Movie]]. So, not so much derailment as development.
== Literature ==
* Roger and Jack from ''[[Lord of the Flies]]''. In addition to becoming huge jerks, they both reach [[Complete Monster]] by the end.
* Percy Weasley and Cornelius Fudge from ''[[Harry Potter (
* Nick Carraway from ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' becomes more and more sarcastic toward the end of the novel, since {{spoiler|the girl people tried to hook him up with turned out to be a fraud and his friend Gatsby got killed by his cousin's abusive husband's lover's widower. [[Deus Angst Machina|Kind of a lot to swallow]]}}.
* Joni from ''[[Boy Meets Boy]]'' is shown as a good, somewhat tomboyish straight girl and friend of gay teens Paul and Tony. But then she hooks up with dumb jock Chuck, who is really {{spoiler|most likely dating her out of spite for a previous girl who spurned his advances}}, and things go downhill from there. Although her friends try to like Chuck, it's no good and then they ''don't'' try very hard to hide how much he annoys them. Even so, this doesn't excuse Joni for giving all of them (except Chuck) the silent treatment, not returning calls, or dropping completely out of their lives after about a decade of friendship. To her credit, {{spoiler|she probably goes back to making nice with Paul and Tony in the end}}.
* Nathaniel in ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' starts out as a kid you can sympathize with and becomes a complete [[Jerkass]] as he becomes more and more invested in the magicians' society.
* Rand al'Thor in ''[[
* Onestar from ''[[Warrior Cats]]''. He's a [[Nice Guy]] early on, but after becoming the leader of WindClan, he becomes more of a jerk as he attempts to prove his Clan's independence.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Oh, man! Many of the characters start out as relatively nice, and then become more and more like [[Jerkass
* King Orrin in the ''[[
== Live
* Carrie from ''[[The King of Queens]]'', to the point of "[[What Does She See in Him?|What Does He See In Her?]]".
* Ryan was one of the more likable and sympathetic characters in the first few seasons of ''[[The Office]]'', but his sudden rise to power at Dunder-Mifflin coincided with a massive increase in the size of his ego. His humiliating, highly public fall from grace only seemed to make things worse.
** This also seems to have happened with Pam, albeit to a lesser extent.
** Andy presents an
* Ross on ''[[
* And Malcolm from ''[[Malcolm in
* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'': Season 1 serial killer Karl Arnold is shown again in season 5 episode ''Outfoxed''. Sure he wasn't a nice guy when they caught him, but four years later, he's got even worse.
* ''[[
** Barney does one in season 5 after breaking up with Robin (which is saying something, as he already ''was'' a pretty big jerkass, albeit one with a [[Hidden Heart of Gold]]). He goes back down to his pre-Robin level of jerkery in season 6 though.
* ''[[
** Freddie takes a level in "iCan't Take It", while he is dating Sam, he edits Carly out of a webshow skit (something he never did even to Sam when they hated each other), and taunts her about being jealous of their relationship.
* Jade West of ''[[Victorious]]'' in the second season. In the fourth episode, she sabotages Tori in an effort to steal a role in a musical by forcing her to repeatedly donate blood Robbie needs for surgery, and in the fifth episode, she attempts to wreck the prom Tori created because Tori unwittingly held it on the same night as the one-man show Jade was planning. Possibly [[Justified Trope]] by the fact that Beck, who usually calms her evil side, hasn't been around as much this season.
** To be fair, since the main cast are portrayed as being either sophomores or juniors in high school, what reason does Tori have for even wanting a prom when it wasn't her time? Not that it excuses Jade being Jade, but Tori more or less ruined Jade;s big night.
* Vanessa and Jenny in ''[[Gossip Girl]]''. Jenny gains points for having gone from sweetheart-everyone-adores to being hated by pretty much all of the NJBC.
* Kengo from ''[[Kamen Rider Kiva]]'' disappears after a couple of tragic events, then returns several episodes later [[Took a Level
* Dr. Eric Foreman on ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', who started off as a fairly self-possessed guy who didn't really appreciate House's shenanigans, and then progressed to the type of guy who screwed over a colleague and then stabbed her with a dirty needle (the latter under duress, but still). His jerkassery has calmed somewhat, but hasn't completely gone away. To be fair, the growing jerkassery did become a plotpoint after
* Phoebe of ''[[
* Admiral Adama drifts this way toward the end of the fourth season of ''[[Battlestar Galactica
** Actually, BSG seems to have tons of examples. Lt. Felix Gaeta, anyone?
** Also, Tom Zarek. Early in the series, he was a recurring political provocateur and alleged terrorist, but he actually managed to be somewhat nice towards the main characters, especially in the Kobol and New Caprica arcs. Flash forward to mid-season 4, and he's [[Flanderization|perpetrating a mutiny among the fleet]] and [[Moral Event Horizon|having the Quorum of Twelve gunned down]] in a petty power-grab while President [[Iron Lady|Roslin]] is in the midst of a [[Heroic BSOD]]. {{spoiler|Fortunately, he doesn't [[Karmic Death|survive it]].}}
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** Well, to be fair he was already pretty much a jerk. And there were a few episodes dealing with him being a tad embarrassed of Gloria's lack of a higher education and in one episode Gloria worries that the above is exactly what would happen one day.
** Much to everyone's surprise it was Gloria who cheats on Michael, causing Archie to call her a whore. So it was [[Out-of-Character Moment|Gloria who takes a level in jerkass]].
* Kellerman in the later seasons of ''[[Homicide: Life
* Cody Martin has been known for most of the ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody|Suite Life]]'' franchise as socially-awkward but lovable nerd. One couldn't help but root for him in the first season of ''On Deck'' as he fought with painstaking care to win Bailey's heart. Then, in the second season, he suddenly became full of himself, constantly fought with Bailey for dominance in the relationship, and even assumed Bailey and former love-interest Jessica were jealous of one another, despite a complete lack of evidence thereto.
** When {{spoiler|he and Bailey broke up and Zack got a girlfriend,}} after which he starts making fun of Zack for {{spoiler|having a girlfriend}}, and gains the sexist attitude that Zack recently got rid of.
* Similar to the above is the story of Justin Russo of ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]''. Justin was originally just a lovable nerd whose [[Insufferable Genius|over-achieving sometimes got the better of him]], and later on a [[Took a Level
* On ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'', Debra started out in the early seasons as a fairly reasonable everywoman who seemed to have a quite playful and loving relationship with Ray. Then, the character suddenly changed. It's hard to pinpoint exactly ''when'' the change occurred, but Debra eventually became a raging, [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male|physically-abusive]] and [[Smug Snake]] [[Karma Houdini]] who treated Ray like trash, [[Domestic Abuse|beat him up]], forbade him from seeing his friends most of the time, and convinced Ray's own children to feel contempt for him. Oh, and the worst part? The show tried to act like ''she'' was the reasonable one, despite her abusive, [[Jerkass]] behavior. So basically, she went from being a well-rounded, likable character in the beginning to the writers' [[Mary Sue]] by the end.
* [[
** This is hardly the first time she does.
** Speaking of Faith, she does this to a frightening degree after she accidentally kills someone, to the point where Buffy is happy to kill her. She gets better following her first [[Angel]] appearance, however, to the point that she's one of the ''nicer'' characters by the end of the television series.
*** Attempting to provoke Buffy, and then later Angel, into killing her was actually Faith's objective. It was a more complex character arc than it appeared at first glance.
* Seth Cohen from ''[[The OC]]'' becomes noticeably more self-absorbed in later episodes. Arguably this helped round out his character a bit more and explain his previously [[Cool Loser|inexplicable]] unpopularity.
* Nate from ''[[Six Feet Under]]'', even though the personality changes are very gradual and subtle. His idealistic, free-spirited nature doesn't mesh well with his family responsibilities in season 5.
** Similarly, Rico
* Finn Hudson in ''[[
** Sebastian Smythe is another example. Sure, he was always a jerk, but mostly in the "lovable rogue" sort of way. Some people even shipped him with Blaine or Kurt or both. Fewer people do now thanks to {{spoiler|him tampering the slushy, causing Blaine to need surgery.}}
** Becky was a sweet kid in Season one but under Sue Sylvester's influence became ean and cruel
** Artie has shown signs of this in Season 3, especially when he's playing director.
* ''[[
** Priya and Raj in season four. For Priya, she basically forbade Leonard and Penny to hang out together due to jealousy, then {{spoiler|she lies to Leonard about not moving back to India. For no adequate reason}}. [[Karma Houdini]] doesn't cover it. For Raj, he begun to have lust for Howard's fiance Bernadette (and when being told a rumor of them breaking up, wanted to date her even though Howard possibly wouldn't let that fly) and then after {{spoiler|[[It Makes Sense in Context|Penny falling asleep before they could have drunken sex]] still acted like an ass that slept with her.}}
* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] after losing too many close friends too many times, to the point that he snapped, said "screw history!" and declared himself the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Time Lord Victorious]]. Then [[Heel Realization|someone killed herself]] to save the future and brought him back to Earth.
* ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210|90210]]'': Adrianna in season 3. She even went as far as {{spoiler|swapping out Silver's medication for Bipolar Disorder with placebos.}}
* We've seen this happen a few times on ''[[
** The ''Northwestern'''s resident [[The Woobie|Woobie]]/[[Determinator]], Jake Anderson, wanted to go to the captain's chair after his climb up the crew ranks at the beginning of the season, prompting Captain Sig Hansen to swap him for a few weeks with Jake Harris of the ''Cornelia Marie'', who was reaching a boiling point with his elder brother Josh.
** However, in season 7, when Jake {{spoiler|is being taught how to be a captain by Sig, even allowed to run his own string of crap pots}}, he shows surprising humility. {{spoiler|When his string comes up almost blank}}, he blames himself more than anyone on the crew and resolves to work harder to make up for it. A distinct example of ''losing'' a level in Jerkass.
** [[Inverted Trope]] on the ''Time Bandit'', where the other crew started treating Mike Fourtner badly when he was actually given a test run in the Captain's chair.
* Jack Hunter on ''[[
* In Season 5 of ''[[Chuck]]'', Morgan, the title character's friend, turned into quite a self-entitled asshole, brushing off Chuck and the rest of his team, and even going as far as joining a rival spy firm. {{spoiler|However, Morgan himself isn't at fault for it, as the Intersect that he gained at the end of last season was "tainted", causing him to lose himself, so to speak. He eventually had it removed after four episodes or so.}}
* Walter White of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' becomes less and less sympathetic as the show goes on. [[Word of God|Vince Gilligan]] has confirmed this is deliberate.
* ''[[Roseanne]]'''s titular character started out as a gruff, but otherwise friendly and wisecracking blue-collar woman who loved her husband and kids, and slowly transformed into a cruel, selfish, sniping, raging, shrieking bitch with severe misandrist tendencies. On top of that, she was often portrayed as being in the right and getting away with being an asshole to everyone. Her daughter, Darlene, seemed to follow her into this mold. Given that this dovetailed with the men of the show (particularly Leon, Mark and David) becoming more and more pathetic, useless, and stupid, and that the show was practically written and run by Roseanne herself, it's a pretty clarifying look into her mindset at the time.
== Video Games ==
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** In the third game his level in Jerkass manifests itself as a ''[[Super-Powered Evil Side]]''. At this point the Prince realizes how bad he's gotten and [[Character Development]] ensues.
* In ''[[Condemned]]'', Ethan Thomas is a nice enough guy, a gifted investigator, but personality-wise, he was never too impolite, despite clearly being under some MAJOR stress. Come the sequel, Ethan's undergone about a year of alcoholism as well as some [[Jerkass]] power leveling. He curses all the time and is routinely impolite and distrustful towards everyone who tries to help him. This is in fact underlined by the change in his voice actor and character design (he went from an [[Ambiguously Brown]] SCU agent wearing a nondescript police uniform, to a rather less ambiguously Caucasian bum in grunge clothes). The personality change is possibly justified by the year of vagrancy and the events of the first game.
* [[Tales of Graces
* Saïx from ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days
** Some fans have suggested from certain changes in Saix's appearance (the pointed ears, lightened hair color, and perhaps most ominously, yellow eyes) that Isa may have been corrupted by darkness ''before'' he turned into a Nobody, which would certainly explain a lot...
* Eric Sparrow from ''[[Tony
** Ironically, between ''THUG'' and ''THUG 2'' he [[Took a Level In Dumbass]] and is treated as an incompetent loser in the latter.
* Peter Venkman in ''[[
** [[Word of God]] is that this was partly intentional: he and Dana were having relationship difficulties and were apart at the moment, causing him to be a little... grumpy.
* ''[[
** He suffers it again in Cataclysm, and randomly becomes racist. Despite not discriminating and even being friendly with the player in Nagrand. In short he's a walking [[Conflict Ball]].
** At the same time, he also seems to get rid of a few Jerkass elements too, ironically. For instance, while he is one of the major reasons as to why the war between the Alliance and Horde has reemerged, there are things he simply won't stand for. First off, he specifically does ''not'' approve of Sylvanas raising the newly dead on the battlefield to replenish the ranks of the Forsaken. He also gets really pissed off when he finds out that one of his commanders has been attacking night elf settlements to kill civilians. He is also the one who drives the Grimtotems out of the Horde when he finds out that they were responsible for]] {{spoiler|Cairne's death.}}
*** Cairne's son Baine did that last part. No all Garrosh did was send Magatha Grimtotem a letter that amounted to "I hope you burn in hell". What Garrosh ''did'' do to elevate his Jerkass status was whine to Baine about the honor he lost {{spoiler|after he killed Baine's father in less-than-honorable combat.}}
** Garrosh will be taking this trope to its logical conclusion in ''Mists of Pandaria''. {{spoiler|The final raid dungeon is going to be a siege on Orgrimmar itself by both Alliance and Horde, because apparently at some point in the expansion Garrosh does something [[Moral Event Horizon|''so horrible'' that it disgusts ''everybody'']].}}
* Palom was an overeager, boastful, and sort of annoying character in the original ''[[
* Before the [[Full Motion Video|FMV]] games, Admiral Tolwyn, from the ''[[Wing Commander (
* Nathan Spencer in the 2009 ''[[
* [[Soul Series|Taki]] takes one between ''Soul Calibur III'' and ''IV''. She goes from hunting demons and fighting those like Cervantes who want the power of Soul Edge to hunting demons and fighting those affiliated with Soul Edge, fighting ex-villains and people affiliated with Soul Calibur, and fighting good guys or neutral parties who ''might'' become affiliated with one of the swords. Nearly every character's story path involves Taki trying to kill them at one point. It's certainly not helped that while she does this she accuses ''everyone'' but herself of being evil and delusional and makes some verbal [[Kick the Dog|low blows]] against [[The Atoner|Siegfried and Ivy]].
** Within ''Soul Calibur III'''s [[Unexpected Gameplay Change|Chronicles of the Sword]] mode, Abelia, your friendly rival at the start of the story and, slightly later, useful ally, turns full tilt into a [[Knight Templar]] halfway through, complete with a costume change and deeper, more aggressive voice bank.
* Liara acts cold and distant in ''[[
** As well, whichever of your human comrades (Ashley or Kaidan) survived the first game will become Jerkasses in their cameo in ''2'', probably because they're just in shock that you're working for [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Cerberus]].
*** Though if it's your love interest that does the [[What the Hell, Hero?]] speech, they'll send you an apology letter, telling you to be careful because they can't lose you a second time.
** The third game sees the Asari and Salarian Councilors take a few levels in Jerkass (contrast to [[Took a Level In Kindness|the Turian Councilor]]). They, however, are beaten out by Quarian Admiral Han'Gerrel, who ''power-levels'' in Jerkass to the point of [[General Ripper|doing positively insane things]] in his attempt to wipe out the Geth, including firing on a Geth Dreadnaught ''while Shepard and Tali are still inside it''. {{spoiler|If you fail to broker peace between the Quarians and Geth, he [[Leeroy Jenkins|has his ships bullrush the upgraded Geth fleet and gets them all - and himself -massacred]], while he is positively furious if you manage to get the two species to make peace}}.
* Maggie's father in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** May actually be a bit of a
** There's also Ingo from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]''. While he was never the friendliest person in the game, he was nothing more than a disgruntled employee who complained about Talon's laziness when Link was a kid. After Ganondorf comes to power, he uses the Evil King's "good" graces to take the ranch for himself, exile Talon to Kakariko Village, and proceeds to generally make life miserable for Malon until Link returns and intervenes.
* Yukari in ''[[
** She doesn't become a jerk ass so much as go through a brief [[Face Heel Turn]]
* Zoey in The Passing in ''[[
** [[Jerkass|Not that he needed them,]] but Nick also took a few levels in Jerkass for the Passing. He's just jealous.
* ''[[
* Anders takes several levels before and during ''[[
** What happens to him in-game, ([[Fighting From the Inside|even outside the possession]]), [[Break the Cutie|isn't]] [[Kill the Ones You Love|all that]] [[Trauma Conga Line|pleasant either.]]
** It's actually trackable through the game's timeline. In Act I, [[Break the Cutie|he's a bit grimmer than before]], but still kindhearted, [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]], and occasionally goofy. In Act II, he eventually {{spoiler|attacks (and kills, unless you stop him) an innocent mage he just saved from templars}} during a bout of [[Unstoppable Rage]], [[My God, What Have I Done?|panics]], and retreats into a [[Heroic BSOD]]. In Act III, he's become [[With Us or Against Us|completely paranoid of]] [[Headbutting Heroes|the rest of]] [[Enemy Mine|the party]] (except for [[The Hero|Hawke]] and [[Team Mom|Varric]]), [[Mood Swinger|quick to swing between manic determination and deep melancholy]], is completely [[The Unfettered|obsessed with]] [[The Fundamentalist|his cause]], and some of the party banter implies he might be hallucinating. [[Sanity Slippage]] at its finest folks...
** The Spirit of Justice itself took a few levels in jerkass when it possessed Anders - it's explicitly stated ingame that it was overwhelmed and corrupted by Anders's anger at what was going on, and back in ''[[
*** It's not even a Spirit of Justice anymore (though it likes to claim otherwise). It's a ''Demon of Vengeance.'' That's how badly it was corrupted.
*** Although it's implied that Justice's corruption (and his becoming a [[Knight Templar]] that [[Jumps Off the Slippery Slope]]) may not actually be Anders' fault, or at least not entirely; {{spoiler|Kirkwall is basically a city built right next to the prison that holds ''the origin of the darkspawn''. The prisoner in question can drive people insane without even being conscious and from miles away}}.
**** Kirkwall is also built on the very site of the magical ritual that originally breached the Golden City and created the darkspawn. The most epically evil mystic event that occurred in the history of the world, a cosmic blasphemy that literally ''broke Heaven'', and you're sleeping right on top of it. It's a miracle anyone can spend a week in Kirkwall without sprouting tentacles.
* ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' briefly fell into this trope in ''Crash Tag Team Racing'', numerous bonus cutscenes focusing on his [[Screwy Squirrel]] antics inside Von Clutch's Motorworld, ranging from feeding Park Drones mouldy apples to disintegrating them in rocket engines. Granted this reversed back in the following game, where he goes back to being a [[Kindhearted Simpleton]].
* Ema Skye of the ''[[
* Cloud does this between ''[[Crisis Core]]'', in which he's a shy, brave, and supportive person with really bad self-esteem (with some backstory about him picking fights with the people who bullied him in his hometown), and ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', in which he's a rude, cocky, reckless and obsessive person who deliberately antagonises his friends Barret and Wedge and does things like taking salary from a slum-dwelling little girl's school money. He's nicer to the girls, but also pretty sexist and won't trust them with anything on their own. He gets a lot nicer after a few hours of play, but he remains vengeance-obsessed and arrogant until his [[Heroic BSOD|entire persona implodes]] halfway through the next disk.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Avalon (
* ''[[Sinfest
* Due to sleep deprivation, Jade Harley of ''[[
* ''[[
== Web Original ==
* In a way, ''[[
* Foamy The Squirrel of ''[[Neurotically Yours]]'' has become much more of a completely bitter ass over the course of the series. This contrasts with his [[Characterization Marches On|earlier portrayal as a hyper-active squirrel who makes sarcastic quips about things]].
* Bloo from ''[[Foster's
▲== Western Animation ==
▲* Bloo from ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (Animation)|Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' is shown as the perfect [[Imaginary Friend]] in the pilot/TV movie, but just one episode later he has become a self-absorbed jerk who verbally and physically abuses Mac [[Once Per Episode]].
** Living in an [[Orphanage of Love]] might ironically have something to do with it. He wasn't used to having so much freedom before moving into Foster's, so it probably inflated his ego.
* Eddy from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n'
** Finally reversed in [[The Movie]], where we find out that Eddy was just acting that way because
* [[Hates the Job, Loves
** A large amount of the cast have evolved this way as the show has leaned into zanier more satirical territory. Even Marge and Lisa act rather mean spirited or outright unstable at times.
* Geoff from ''[[
** The case can also be made for Courtney after her return to the show in season two. She went from being a slightly stuck-up and haughty girl who was still civil enough to be the [[Team Mom]], to a scheming, spoiled princess who uses her lawyers to cheat her way to numerous advantage on the show. She basically transformed from a significantly more good version of [[Rich Bitch|Heather]] to a straight up [[Expy]].
*** In ''World Tour'', both Geoff and Courtney (the latter at least in the first half of the season) are back to form, only for Cody, Gwen, and Duncan to get jerkier.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'':
** Cleveland has had some Jerkass moments since he got [[The Cleveland Show
** Connie went from being the standard [[Alpha Bitch]] to a downright bitch, which was best demonstrated when she made fun of Meg shortly after the latter returned to school from being in prison for three months (to compensate [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|she pays for this]], and a lot of her Jerkass moments, to dire extremes).
** Lois, originally a [[Mama Bear]] and arguably the most [[Closer to Earth]] character in the show has gradually became what is basically a female variant of Peter. Made worse by the fact the cast still [[Jerk Sue|often treats her as the same character she was before]].
Line 209:
** Joe Swanson took several levels of jerkassery once he regained the ability to walk in the episode "Believe it or Not, Joe's Walking on Air". Joe gained confidence in himself once he could walk again, but it got to the point where he demanded his not-so-physically-fit friends to keep up with him in his extreme physical activities and insulted them for not being as good as he is. It got to the point where Joe ditched his friends for new ones and dumped Bonnie while she was still pregnant. Joe had to be recrippled in order to get him back down to humbleness.
*** It's safe to say that [[Flanderization]] has engulfed the cast so intensely that it's easier to list characters who haven't taken a level in jerkass. The best instance of an inversion is Stewie, who [[Took a Level In Kindness]] to the point where he's now the most likable character on the show. (Relatively speaking, of course; he used to be ''evil'', and nowadays he's just an asshole.)
* Roger of ''[[
** In contrast, Stan's own Jerkass tendencies have become more toned down or at least more [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well intentioned]] as the show has progressed.
** Principal Lewis has become quite the jerkass in recent episodes, he constantly harasses the students and uses them for his own selfish wants.
* Cosmo from ''[[The Fairly
** Icky Vicky: Originally just a mean, bossy babysitter. Now a sadistic, maniacal human monster not above threatening her own parents to keep her [[Beneath the Mask|true colors]] a secret.
** Timmy's dad surely began showing signs of this as the series went on.
** Timmy himself has become more of a heartless asswipe each season. But thankfully not as awful as Norm the Genie's clone Timmy, whose extreme jerkiness causes his fairy god parents to quit their jobs.
* Johnny Canmore from ''[[
* Sentinel Prime of ''[[
** And [[What Could Have Been|if the show had gotten a fourth season]], he apparently would've gotten even ''worse'': {{spoiler|taking over after Ultra Magnus dies, becoming a [[Knight Templar]] with an authoritarian regime...}} Sheesh!
* ''[[
** A good example of SpongeBob being more of a jerk comes in "A Pal for Gary". He gets some freakish pet, which constantly ruins Gary's life. And [[Jerk
** Patrick even more so. The prime example? The episode "Rule Of Dumb".
*** There's an episode "Yours, Mine, and Mine", where Patrick 'borrows' money from SpongeBob to 'share' a Krabby-meal together. He of course eats the whole thing himself. Mr. Krabs then makes Sponge pay ''extra'' for the toy (which is really just a Krabby Patty that Krabs dressed up as a doll. ''
** Mr Krabs can border into [[Faux Affably Evil]] territory in some episodes.
** "The Card", revolves around SpongeBob getting a rare Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy card, and lending it to Patrick for a while. However, Patrick abuses the card in so many ways (using it as a lockpick, grilling it and eating it in a Krabby Patty, scratching his back with it) you'd think he's actually doing this all just to torture SpongeBob, who gets increasingly stressed and worried about the card. [[Sarcasm Mode|Surprisingly enough]], after doing much more dangerous things with it (such as potentially smashing it or setting it on fire), when [[SpongeBob]] warns him, Patrick just says, "
*** Actually, it was Patrick who got the card. SpongeBob had been tearing through pack after pack but eventually ran out of money. Patrick bought the last pack, and voila, he got the card. Patrick said he could have it later, but destroys it before SpongeBob can get it. Then Patrick gives him the four
** Conversely, Squidward and Plankton have become more sympathetic characters as the characters [[Designated Hero|we're (apparently) supposed to like]] have taken copious levels in jerkass.
* Although Lemongrab of ''[[
* While still a rather sympathetic character, Baloo's ''[[
* While [[Daffy Duck]] of ''[[
* It's very easy to forget that [[King of the Hill
* ''[[
* Velma on ''[[Scooby
** Episode 15 shows that she might be getting over herself a little; she resents Scooby but she draws the line at his getting hurt.
** Daphne had one temporarily in Episode 6, becoming a Hex Girl and stating that her new name was Crush. She reverts back to normal at the end.
** {{spoiler|Also, it's speculated that she might go into this against Velma, due to Velma having not told them a ''very'' important secret that was partially the reason why the gang split up.}}
* Pietro Maximoff on ''[[X-Men
** Next season, Pietro taunts his sister [[Scarlet Witch|Wanda]] until she accidentally derails a train, which unintentionally ends up painting them as heroes to the public
** Irony is he's a [[Draco in Leather Pants/Western Animation|Draco in Leather Pants]], so the fangirls who actually build up the ''X-Men Evolution'''s [[Fan Dumb]], interprets ''him'' as the only good member of the Brotherhood, despite the fact that, arguably, he's the most self-centred character the series. Apocalypse is a [[Knight Templar]] who wishes for the world to become a Mutant utopia, [[Magneto]] is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who wants to avoid another Holocaust, every other Brotherhood member has redeeming qualities (especially Avalanche), Colossus is an [[Anti-Villain]] under [[Blackmail]], Gambit is a hired Merc/thief who had some [[Pet the Dog]] Moments, Sabertooth and Pyro are just plain crazy... but Pietro is a calculating, selfish dick who serves only himself (and his father isn't a sufficient excuse for some of the shit he pulls).
* On ''[[Jimmy Two
** [[The Woobie|Samy Garvin]] did this twice in season 2. The first time was giving a trophy to lucius and stating the Jimmy dances like there a lobster in his pants. The second time was [[Kick the Dog|intruding on a chat]] that Jimmy had with Lucius's dad to read a scroll.
* Charmcaster in ''[[
** Ben himself takes a massive level in Jerkass in the third season of ''Alien Force''.
* Mr. Whiskers has his fair share of [[Jerkass]] moments in ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]'' but the one where he really crosses the line is making Ed cry in the episode Monster Of My Skin:
{{quote|
'''Ed:''' [[The Woobie|Gee, if that's the way you *sniff* I mean if uh, all right then....]] }}
* Both ''[[
* This is the major problem [[Shrinking Violet|Fluttershy]] undergoes in the ''[[My Little Pony:
** In the same episode, Angel the Bunny, always a little bit of a brat, has become violently abusive and borderline sociopathic, making unreasonable demands regarding his breakfast, and then throwing Fluttershy's best effort away for being short one cherry and kicking her out of the house. The closest he comes to any kind of apology is an expression of gratitude after he realises [[I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham|he enjoys Fluttershy's cucumber slices]], but then, it was only because of [[Death Glare|the Stare]] that he was willing to try them in the first place.
*** Angel [[Took a Level In Kindness]] in a later episode, so it kind of evens out.
** Something like half the town
*** There is a consistent fan theory that this is a ''prequel'' episode, showing an incident that occurred back before Twilight Sparkle arrived in Ponyville and before the cast had had any of their character development. Evidence in support of this theory: Twilight appears nowhere in the episode, the only Mane Cast members in the episode are those who were confirmed as already being friends or acquaintances with each other even back before the pilot episode, nothing they do is inconsistent with their season 1, episode 1 characterizations despite them all having substantially diverged or progressed from them since then, and [[Word of God]] is that some episodes are shown in achronic order.
** This tendency is common with most of the characters in the show, due to its tendency to deconstruct the character's flaws as part of the episode's Aesop. Usually one of the characters will become highly egotistical, neurotic or vindictive (or in some exaggerated cases, [[Sanity Slippage|borderline insane]]) for a brief point [[Once Per Episode]] before learning their lesson and reverting back. Rainbow Dash may be a slightly more consistent example, if only because she has gotten the lion's share of Aesops in recent episodes and thus required more frequently to act up.
* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', when Ratchet {{spoiler|takes some [[Psycho Serum]]}}, it impairs his judgement, causing him to become increasingly obnoxious and aggressive, even to his own team. Not to mention becoming overconfident to take on ''Megatron'' and the Decepticons on his own (which would cost him). He not only ''[[Dirty Old Man|flirts]]'' with Arcee but he also directly [[What the Hell, Hero?|calls out]] Optimus for being too soft for what had happened to {{spoiler|Cliffjumper}} and also passing several chances to finish Megatron off. While his judgement was impaired, it's implied that he's saying what he would have normally held back. Fortunately, by the end of the episode, he returns back to normal.
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[[Category:Character Derailment]]▼
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
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[[Category:The Jerk Index]]
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