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~~'ve known this person the longest. They may be the [[Cloudcuckoolander's Minder]].

# Seniority — They've known this person the longest. They may be the [[Cloudcuckoolander's Minder]].

#~~Proximity—They~~'re neighbours and simply can't be rid of.

# Proximity — They're neighbours and simply can't be rid of.

#~~Necessity—He~~'s worth keeping around because he's useful or can provide something no one else can.

# Necessity — He's worth keeping around because he's useful or can provide something no one else can.

#~~Dating—Someone~~ in the group is dating the person and insists on including them.

# Dating — Someone in the group is dating the person and insists on including them.

#~~Fear—The~~ last thing you want to do is piss this person off by telling them they can't play.

# Fear — The last thing you want to do is piss this person off by telling them they can't play.

#~~Politeness—The~~ group is simply too nice to kick this person to the curb.

# Politeness — The group is simply too nice to kick this person to the curb.

#Audience ~~Popularity—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.

# Audience Popularity — 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~~ disliked character is too dangerous or irresponsible to be left to their own devices.

# 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.

# 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.

** Also by Kiyohiko Azuma: Yanda from ''[[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.