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—They Seniority — They've known this person the longest. They may be the [[Cloudcuckoolander's Minder]].
#Proximity—They Proximity — They're neighbours and simply can't be rid of.
#Necessity—He Necessity — He's worth keeping around because he's useful or can provide something no one else can.
#Dating—Someone Dating — Someone in the group is dating the person and insists on including them.
#Fear—The Fear — The last thing you want to do is piss this person off by telling them they can't play.
#Politeness—The Politeness — The group is simply too nice to kick this person to the curb.
# Audience Popularity—SometimesPopularity — Sometimes a [[Jerkass]] [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] will start hanging around the group, based on some flimsy pretext, just so that the writers have an excuse to feature him more.
#Supervision—The Supervision — The disliked character is too dangerous or irresponsible to be left to their own devices.
#Caring—Deep 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.
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== [[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 ''[[Yotsubato|Yotsuba&!]]''. It doesn't help that the person he will pick on most is five years old.
* 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.
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== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Minimonsters]]'' has [[Small Name, Big Ego|colossal]] [[Vegetarian Vampire|vampire]] [[Spoiled Brat|prick]] [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist|Victor Von Piro]] to the Frank's Gang. It's plainly stated by [[Gadgeteer Genius|Frank]] he only admitted him in his gang out of pity, and nobodyno inone thesave gang (exceptfor [[Dogged Nice Girl|Piruja]]) canand stand him. This quote frompossibly [[SleepyheadCheerful Child|LupoGus]] drivescan thisstand home: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 leaguesa nicer[[Nice andGirl]], making her automatically more tolerable than [[Jerkass|Victor]]) led to her walking away from this trope in the next albums, this role being transferred to the more deserving [[Jerkass|Victor]].
{{quote|'''Lupo''': Please refresh my memory, Frank. Why is this loser in our gang?}}
** 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 leagues nicer and more tolerable than Victor) led to her walking away from this trope in the next albums, this role being transferred to the more deserving [[Jerkass|Victor]].
** [[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]] ==
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** 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''.
** 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.