The Friend Nobody Likes: Difference between revisions
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[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]. In a group of otherwise good friends, there is one character who is an unrepentant [[Jerkass]] to everyone else. Or, if they aren't downright mean or cruel, just may be so [[The Ditz|stupid]] or [[Cloudcuckoolander|just plain weird]] that it's embarrassing to be seen with them. In either case, someone asking "Why are they even friends?" is a perfectly legitimate question. One that is usually answered by one of several reasons:
# Seniority
# Proximity
# Necessity
# Dating
# Fear
# Politeness
# Audience Popularity
# Supervision — The disliked character is too dangerous or irresponsible to be left to their own devices.
# Caring — Deep down, the group does care (or the disliked character cares about them), and it seems to be otherwise simply for a matter of very difficult behaviour.
It's not even that their friends aren't aware of their behavior, either. They're perfectly well aware the person is a jerk, or a geek, or a ditz, and will frequently treat them as such based on their behavior. They still get included in the group nonetheless.
In some cases, it's discovered that the group really does care about this friend and vice versa. In other words, "They may be a pain in the butt, but they're ''our'' pain in the butt." Often uttered right before such lines as "You mess with them, you mess with all of us!" or "We're not leaving anyone behind!" The character may have a breakout episode that explains the reason for their attitude or reveals a human side that never showed before (such as a cute hobby).
Compare [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] and [[With Friends Like These...]], where this kind of attitude is usually limited to one or two select members of the group as opposed to being the opinion of the group as a whole. Can be the group's [[Butt Monkey]]. If The Friend Nobody Likes is a protagonist or otherwise portrayed sympathetically, he may instead become [[The Woobie]]. The Friend may also be [[The Gadfly]] if they aren't an up-and-out [[Jerkass]]. See also [[My Friends and Zoidberg]], where Zoidberg is usually [[The Friend Nobody Likes]], [[No Accounting for Taste]], when the "Why are they together" question is asked of a romantic couple and [[Token Evil Teammate]], which is this trope with the Jerkass taken up to outright evil.▼
▲Compare [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] and [[With Friends Like These...]], where this kind of attitude is usually limited to one or two select members of the group as opposed to being the opinion of the group as a whole. Can be the group's [[Butt Monkey]]. If The Friend Nobody Likes is a protagonist or otherwise portrayed sympathetically, he may instead become [[The Woobie]]. The Friend may also be [[The Gadfly]] if they aren't an up-and-out [[Jerkass]]. See also [[My Friends and Zoidberg]], where Zoidberg is usually
{{examples}}▼
{{noreallife|calling somebody unlikable [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|isn't a compliment]].}}
== [[Anime and Manga]] ==▼
▲{{examples}}
▲== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Tomo Takino of ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' hangs around with Yomi because they've been friends since grade school. The rest of her friends are classmates, and nine times out of ten her antics piss everyone else off. It's the same thing with Yukari and Nyamo. In this case, however, it's easy to see why the others hang out with them - they're likeable enough.
** Also by Kiyohiko Azuma: Yanda from ''[[
* Miu Matsuoka in ''[[Strawberry Marshmallow]]''. She's usually included because she's Chika's oldest friend and next door neighbor.
* Chiri in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' is a lot like Cartman. She's a very extreme [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]] and everyone is afraid of her [[Ax Crazy]] streak, but she's still part of the group. It probably helps that everyone else is pretty crazy/borderline sociopathic.
* Harou Niijima from ''[[
* ''Osomatsu-san'': While the brothers [[Sibling Rivalry|give each other shit constantly]], [[Narcissist|Karamatsu]] is by far the [[Butt Monkey]] of the group, though he mostly grows out of it by Season 2.
** [[The Fake Cutie|Todomatsu]] always had shades of it, but he effectively replaces the aforementioned Karamatsu as the most disliked brother by Season 2, because he's an insufferable [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]] who thinks he's better than everyone else ([[At Least I Admit It|whereas the others are at least upfront about their wretchedness]]).
** [[The Protagonist|Osomatsu]] is a downplayed version, as while he's disliked for being a [[Lazy Bum]] who drags them down, they don't vocalize it as much due to him preventing them from improving themselves, being grateful about it. {{spoiler|He becomes full-blown this in "Letter" when he [[Kick the Dog|kicks and threatens]] [[Nice Guy|Jyushimatsu]] [[Heroic BSOD|while in his lowest point]], prompting the rest to leave (though thankfully [[Status Quo Is God|things go back to normal in the next episode]]).}}
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Minimonsters]]'' has [[Small Name, Big Ego|colossal]] [[Vegetarian Vampire|vampire]] [[Spoiled Brat|prick]] [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist|Victor Von Piro]] to Frank's Gang. It's plainly stated by [[Gadgeteer Genius|Frank]] he only admitted him in his gang out of pity, and no one save for [[Dogged Nice Girl|Piruja]] and possibly [[Cheerful Child|Gus]] can stand him.
** In the first album, Piruja was portrayed as this to the gang due to her clingy behavior. The gang [[Took a Level in Kindness|taking levels in kindness]] via [[Characterisation Marches On]] and some [[Fridge Brilliance]] (Piruja, for all her clinginess, is a [[Nice Girl]], making her automatically more tolerable than [[Jerkass|Victor]]) led to her walking away from this trope in the next albums.
** [[Gang of Bullies|Morty's Gang]], meanwhile, has [[Invisible Man|Mienai]], the gang's [[Butt Monkey]]. In an ironic twist, Mienai is the [[Token Good Teammate]] of the group, which serves to highlight the assholery of the other members (''especially'' the leader, [[The Sociopath|Morty]])
** Played with [[The Pig Pen|Billy Rotten]]. He's often avoided due to his smell, but he's not quite disliked (mostly because he's a [[Nice Guy]]), with Frank's Gang considering him [[The Reliable One]] in certain situations. Those who do insult him are clearly meant to be [[Jerkass|assholes]].
== [[Film]] ==
* From ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine]]'' (discussing the character Lou)
{{quote|'''Nick''': You know how every group of friends has that one asshole? He's our asshole.}}
* While Stiffler is more of an outright antagonist in the first ''[[American Pie]]'', he becomes this in the second since they're staying at his place in the summer, and works to redeem himself in the third.
* Cameron in ''[[Dead Poets Society]]''
* Begbie in ''[[Trainspotting]]'' clearly terrifies his "friends" with his [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]. When Renton flees his former lifestyle, Begbie tracks him down and becomes [[The Thing That Would Not Leave]].
* Alan in ''[[The Hangover]]''.
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* In the backstory of ''[[Harry Potter]]'', Peter Petigrew. He was the least able and respected of his group of friends. {{spoiler|He eventually turned on them to serve Voldemort.}}
** While he was the least liked outside his group of friends, its clear that the Marauders themselves loved him, to the point where the Potters trusted him with their lives over Remus and Sirius. {{spoiler|It just makes his betrayal all the worst.}}
* In ''[[
* ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' has an unusual example in Lieutenant/Major Toren Divas. An odd example since he also manages to be Cain's [[Vitriolic Best Buds|best friend]] (or as close as he gets to one). Cain hates him for [[Leeroy Jenkins|constantly putting him in danger]], being an idiot (and thus putting him in danger) and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|being the only one who calls him "Cai"]]. On the other hand he's reliable, not bad company, terrible at playing poker and usually knows the best gossip and drinking spots.
* Francis Begbie in ''[[Trainspotting]]''. Renton and the rest of the gang basically pretend to be Begbie's friend because they're scared of him. Renton details a list of lies that one must pretend to believe in order to hang out with Begbie and not get beaten up.
== [[Live
* In ''[[That '70s Show]]'', Jackie, at first, was only in the group because she was the girlfriend of one member, Kelso. Later though she became a regular friend.
* Trina Vega on ''[[Victorious]]''. She tends to be [[Butt Monkey|the butt of all the jokes.]] Jade in two different episodes even tells her "No one likes you!".
* On ''[[iCarly]]'', for Freddie and Gibby and anyone else who might be friends with Carly, Sam is this through Seniority, Fear and Audience Popularity.
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{{quote|"If you moved away, I'd have to follow you. Then Marshall would follow me, and Ted would follow Marshall. The only upside is that we might lose Barney."}}
* Jayne Cobb in ''[[Firefly]]'', to the point where the others don't even bother with the "wait until they're out of the room" part. When the crew is discussing what to do with River, a mentally unstable girl who may or may not be a living weapon, Zoe says she's never hurt anyone. When Jayne points out she sliced him in the chest with a butcher's knife ''without provocation'', she just amends it to "anyone we can't spare."
** Of course, Jayne isn't technically a "friend" at all; he's a mercenary, and in fact one that Mal hired out from under another guy while that other guy was busy holding Mal up. He's told the good captain in no uncertain terms that if he gets a good enough offer he ''will'' turn on
*** And yet, he cares enough about what they think of him to ask Mal to make up a different account of his death when Mal is about to [[Thrown Out the Airlock|throw him out of the airlock]] for secretly trying to turn in River and Simon for their bounties. It's implied that this request is the only reason Mal gave Jayne another chance.
*** Although
*** Jayne's supposed cutthroat, purely mercenary behavior is debatable, as his qualification for this particular trope. Let it suffice that he is a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] and the other characters buy his act to varying degrees. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] as well.
* Similar to the ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' example, but less extreme: Screech in ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'' is good friends with Zack but merely tolerated by the rest of the group (and outright despised by Lisa). They all like Zack and Screech is part of the baggage.
* Bob from ''[[Becker]]''.
* [[Depending on the Writer]], Cliff from ''[[Cheers]]''. In many episodes, it's just Carla who hates him, but in others it seems like no one can stand his
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* Named for one of Dane Cook's stand up routines, quoted in part above. He finishes it by stating that if you don't know which one of your friends is this, chances are that you yourself are this trope.
* [[Gabriel Iglesias]] often tells stories of one of his oldest friends Felipe, whose inability to know when to stop messing around is frequently the cause of whatever mess Gabriel ends up describing.
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** Oghren, Sten and Shale seem to be okay with her as well, but no one else likes ''them'', either. (And Oghren obviously just thinks she's hot.)
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Anders / Justice fulfills this role later on in the game due to his obsession with the Templar/Mage conflict alienating him from everyone who's somehow involved, meaning everyone who isn't Isabela, Varric or (possibly) Hawke, and even they might tell him ''to his face'' that his one-note obsession is getting really hard to tolerate.
** Carver also serves as this in the first act. He's antagonistic to '''every''' party member not named Merrill. Everyone only tolerates him because he's Hawke's younger brother.
* Francis and Nick appear to fulfill this role in ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' and ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'' respectively.
* While all the mercs in''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' are [[Vitriolic Best Buds]], there are some examples of this:
** [[Pyromaniac|The Pyro]] downplays this, surprisingly. [[Horrifying the Horror|The other mercs are scared shitless of them]], yet they have managed to establish an [[Odd Friendship]] with [[Southern-Fried Genius|the Engineer]] and is treated more like an [[Man Child|overgrown kid]] when they're not being psychopathic.
** [[Colonel Kilgore|The Soldier]] has earned quite a bit of this, due to him being a violent, jingoistic idiot who thinks of himself as the leader. Not to mention he's the member most prone to [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|fuck things up]] for his team.
** Due to being an '''[[Up to Eleven|extremely]]''' [[Annoying Younger Sibling|annoying]] [[Bratty Half-Pint]], no one is really fond of [[Brooklyn Rage|The Scout]] save for the aforementioned [[Ax Crazy|Soldier]], though [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|the team]] [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|will still come to his aid when he needs it]] (like in ''Expiration Date'').
** While the above three range from feared to merely disliked, [[Double Reverse Quadruple Agent|The Spy]] is the one who inspires actual hatred among his team, having the most enemies out of them ([[Cold Sniper|Sniper]], [[Bratty Half-Pint|Scout]], [[Pyromaniac|Pyro]] and [[Everyone Has Standards|even]] [[Nice Guy|Engineer]]). Not only is he an unpleasant [[French Jerk]] but, [[Undying Loyalty|unlike the aforementioned Soldier]], his specialty is [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|backstabbing his teammates]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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* Candy from ''[[Girls with Slingshots]]'' is in the same boat as [[The Big Bang Theory|Sheldon]] above; no one really likes her all that much, but she's attached to Jameson, who they do like, so they have to live with her. At least until her repeated efforts to sabotage his relationship with Maureen come to a head at the wedding and he wakes his ass up that Candy is possibly [[Poisonous Friend|the worst friend in existence]].
* Seth from ''[[Sorcery 101]]'' more or less the characters put up with him because one of them is bonded to him and he's pretty good at manipulating people in a way that's beneficial (though usually very messy, and in poor taste as he is almost always the last resort).
* Avery in ''[[Ozy and Millie]]'' does nothing remotely interesting, annoys everyone with his [[Small Name, Big Ego|delusions of being cool]] and thinks he does Ozy and Millie a favor by sitting at their lunch table (and insulting them when the popular kids come within earshot), yet they still hang out with him for some reason. Millie eventually starts to [[Lampshade Hanging|wonder why they keep him around]] at some point.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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** Also summed up in "The Death of Eric Cartman," where the other boys declare that he's not their friend and that they will ignore him from now on:
{{quote|'''Token:''' Ignoring him? How come?
'''Kyle:''' Because he's a [[Fat Bastard|fat]], [[Politically-Incorrect Villain|racist]], [[It's All About Me|self-centered]], [[Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence|intolerant]], [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulating]] [[The Sociopath|sociopath]].
'''Token:''' Oh yeah. }}
** {{spoiler|Stan's}} diagnosis of cynicism causes him to become this in "You're Getting Old."
** Craig points out that the whole group are seen like that by the rest of the 4th Graders. Technically, they are still friends, but their [[Weirdness Magnet]] antics are getting old in the eyes of the rest.
** [[Token Wholesome|Butters]], to an extent (or just [[Depending on the Writer]]), though in this case it's because he's an overly-cheerful loser. This is especially evident while he was "the new Kenny" and the others [[With Friends Like These...|constantly abused him]]. [[Nervous Wreck|Tweek]] suffered from this for a while after replacing him.
* Bloo in ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]''.{{context}}
* [[Daffy Duck]].{{context}}
* Subverted with Numbuh 3 in ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]''. While the rest of the team frequently show annoyance over her [[The Ditz|ditzy]] [[Cloudcuckoolander]] personality, she's actually very well-liked due to her being the [[The Cutie|lovely]], [[Nice Girl|kind-hearted]] [[The Medic|Medic]] of the team. The one who complains the most about it, Numbuh 4, [[Everyone Can See It|has a blatant crush on her]].
* As of ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'', Jar Jar Binks. Even the people who like him are aware he's a clumsy idiot who is probably going to mess things up. This portrayal is actually a step up for him, letting him be an actual character instead of just a punchline.▼
** Lizzie, Numbuh One's girlfriend, is this towards the rest of Sector V, with the exception of Numbuh Three. Numbuhs Two and Four can't stand her, with Two even showing fear towards her, while Numbuh Five is tolerant of her ''at best''.
* in ''[[Dan Vs.]]'' Dan normally hangs out with Chris, who tries to minimize the damage Can would cause (so it's supervision). Elise puts up with Dan because she is married to Chris and can’t get him to let Dan just cause damage and get thrown in prison.▼
** Numbuh 86 is the [[Jerkass]] [[Alpha Bitch]] decommissioning officer, so understandably no one can stand her, except for Numbuh Three and sometimes Numbuh 362.
** The king of this trope is Numbuh 363. His sister is '''literally''' the only person who has any kind of tolerance towards him, with even [[Up to Eleven|Numbuh 86]] being seen as tolerable by comparison. In the series finale, the now-adult Numbuh Four describes him as "200% bananas", while Numbuh Five claims that when she became the Supreme Leader of the organization, the first thing she did was fire him.
** As for the villains, there's Toiletnator, due to him being a [[Harmless Villain]] [[The Millstone|who constantly fucks up the villains' plans]].
▲* As of ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'', Jar Jar Binks. Even the people who like him are aware he's a clumsy idiot who is probably going to mess things up. This portrayal is actually [[Rescued from the Scrappy Heap|a step up for him]], letting him be an actual character instead of just a punchline.
▲*
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Friendship Tropes]]
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