So I've been thinking about this trope for a while, and I think it's in need of a change; or at the very least a redefinition.
For convenience's sake, I'll post the current description here:
This character is typically found in stories that don't contain a true "villain", and are meant as a target that the audience can channel their dislike toward. Examples include disaster stories where there literally is no villain behind it all, films where a system or even an idea are the "villains" so to speak, and certain action movies where the villains are just too cool to hate.
This character is most of the time not the main villain, and is usually not a true antagonist at all. They aren't causing the struggle that the heroes must overcome, though their actions always make the heroes' job more difficult. Their list of character traits usually includes selfishness, stubbornness, greed, holier-than-thou contempt, and a simply inexhaustible ability to make bad decisions. Basically, they exist to be hated. Every action they perform and every piece of dialogue they utter is designed to incite rage in the audience. They usually get their comeuppance in a very audience-satisfying scene.
This isn't the same as Jerkass or Designated Villain. The key here is in the story that the character comes from. The writers are giving you someone to hate simply because the story needs an anthropomorphic "villain", but the character is sort of an afterthought to the actual plot. See also Villainy-Free Villain.
This can overlap with Love to Hate if the character's despicableness becomes enjoyable and memorable with the fanbase, though not necessarily.
Contrast with The Scrappy, who is an unintended example, or a villain who is hated for the wrong reasons.
So my main issue with this trope is that whether it's here, the wikia fork (which apparently got a name change last I checked), or TV Tropes, no one really abides by this definition. In general, it's used for a villain, jerk, or otherwise antagonistic/unlikable character who's written primarily to draw the audience's ire, whether they are a proper main antagonist who is ridiculously cruel and hateable, a lesser villain who contrasts with the main villain's honorable and genuinely cool traits, or are just an asshole making life difficult for someone in a more mundane setting is irrelevant.
So here comes the million dollar question: should this trope's description be changed to be more in line with what I've mentioned, or should it be left as is? Don't worry: if people do think it needs to be changed I'm more than happy to write a new description!