Temporary Scrappy: Difference between revisions

* When [[Batman]] had his back broken in the 90's, his temporary replacement was [[Azrael|Jean-Paul Valley]]. This portrayal of Batman was an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Darker and Edgier]] [[Nineties Anti-Hero]] that sent most fans into a rage. His entire purpose was to show why the ''real'' Batman isn't an [[Ax Crazy]] vigilante.

** The whole storyline was a response to fans complaining that Batman wasn't "hardcore" enough for the [[Grimdark]] 90's because he didn't kill or brutalize his enemies. So DC called the readers' bluff by giving them exactly what they wanted. As the writers expected, fans hated it. The storyline ended with the real Batman beating down his replacement and taking back the mantle, which had been planned from the start... Please note though, that had Azbats proved lucrative, they totally would have stuck with him.

* This is often done in ''[[The Beano]]'', with the [[Temporary Scrappy]] being [[Always Someone Better]] for an attribute that defines one of the regular characters.

* An episode of ''[[Lost in Space]]'' had The Robotoid, played by Robby the Robot, being better than the Robinsons' own Robot at nearly everything. It was, of course, evil, and The Robot had to save the day.

** Interestingly, Robby the Robot was used in a similar manner on ''[[The Addams Family]]'', where he was doing the same thing to Lurch.

* Seems to the the purpose of Deangelo Vickers on ''[[The Office]]''. Introduced as the first replacement for Michael, he is inconsistently written to be a horrible person in general with apparently no experience in business. Many fans cried [[Replacement Scrappy]], but he was only intended to last one episode past Michael's exit anyway.

* Lady Vivian on ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' was introduced in one episode as a snotty [[Spoiled Brat]] who Arthur fell for whilst under the influence of a love spell, and then ushered out again once he snapped out of it.

* On ''[[The Simpsons]]'', the [[Show Within a Show]] Itchy & Scratchy had a dog named [[Shoo Out the New Guy|Poochie]], who was hated by the audience of characters on the show proper. There was also another character added to the episode who was a parody of Scrappys everywhere: a teenager named Roy who was inexplicably shown to be living with the Simpson family; however, all Roy did was [[Lampshade Hanging|hang lampshades]] on the concept of a Scrappy.

* In one U.S. Acres segment in ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'', an overly-charismatic new rooster shows up and proves to be far more likable to the characters (especially the hens) than Roy. Orson starts to doubt him when he proves a little less effective at his job than Roy, but what takes the cake is when the weasel tries to capture the hens... and the rooster runs and hides. By the time Roy rescues the hens, the only character who will even give the [[Temporary Scrappy]] rooster the time of day is [[Cowardly Lion|Cowardly Duck]] Wade... and only because he enjoys having someone more cowardly than himself around.

== Multiple media ==