Took a Level in Jerkass: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

When a character grows into a [[Jerkass]] over time (sometimes not much of it at all). Can be due to [[Flanderization]], a [[Face Heel Turn]], or just another regular but unfortunate [[Character Development]]. While a [[Jerkass]] growing into a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] is a common phenomenon, especially in dramas, a reversal, resulting in this trope, is also common, especially in comedies.

This can also cause tropes like [[What the Hell, Hero?]], though whether if the character changes for the better after that is well [[Depending on the Writer]].

 

 

 

* ''[[Bleach]]'' uses this trope every now and then, such as in the Hueco Mundo arc with Ichigo's infamous scene with his childhood friend Tatsuki demanding to know why their classmate Orihime had suddenly vanished. The dialogue seemed to be setting up for a classic "[[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]]" speech, but instead he coldly told her that it had nothing to do with her. The very next page is him getting his head put through a window. There is also the scene where Yamamoto deems Orihime a traitor shortly after being kidnapped (which is a big reason why some fans deem him a [[Knight Templar]]). While both of those characters received a fairly substantial amount of [[What the Hell, Hero?]] plenty of fans have felt that they could have handled those situations a lot better.

** In fairness, even if Yamamoto had handled that a lot more gracefully, Ichigo being the [[Leeroy Jenkins|hot head]] that he is would have rushed into Hueco Mundo anyway.

* Oh Lordy, Nakai from ''[[Bakuman｡]]''. When he's first introduced he was desperate to get a manga serialization despite not succeeding in ten years. Through much perseverance he proves himself to fellow manga artist Aoki and the two do manage to start up a serialization. However, once he gets a taste of success it goes right to his head and he starts acting like an arrogant, womanizing asshole, alienating most of his friends and colleagues, ultimately getting himself canceled and decides to quit manga and go back home. {{spoiler|Recently he's returned to the business, but not only is he working for Nanamine, the first unambiguously "evil" rival in the series, but both his appearance and personality have grown even more slovenly and repulsive during the interim.}}

* ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'': This happened in the backstories of both Kyouko and Homura.

* ''[[Naruto]]'': Sakura in the fillers. While she started to genuinely warm up towards Naruto, the fillers seem to ignore the poor girl's [[Character Development]] for the sake of [[Played for Laughs|humor]]. This got to the point where she started taunting Naruto for his misery in the third movie.

** Let's not forget Sasuke.

* A [[Justified Trope]] in the case of {{spoiler|Tem Ray}} in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. He was already a borderline [[Mad Scientist]] in the beginning, but the biggest leap into jerkassery happened due to {{spoiler|brain damage from oxygen deprivation, which can really screw up your personality.}}

* Arguably, Medaka of ''[[Medaka Box]]''. Since [[Bigger Bad|Ajimu]] has introduced five "''normal''" people to her, Medaka no longer views Zenkichi as someone special to her since he couldn't pass the first trial of a test she gave the normals. Then she actively tries to turn him into her enemy by acting cold and offensive just so she can see value in him again. Kind of sad considering it's a combination of her abnormality and her personality that causes her change like this since she can't understand failure or things from a "weak" perspective. She even goes as far as {{spoiler|using an abnormality that makes her weaker than Zenkichi and goes all out in a fight against him. Since Zenkichi isn't really willing to fight her at this point she mops the floor with him. However the abnormality she used is a "perfected version" of Kumagawa's Bookmaker and isn't meant for fighting, but for allowing the person affected to feel the world from the opponents perspective.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* The title character of ''[[Funky Winkerbean]]'' was something of a pessimist as an adult, but still mostly a nice guy. After [[Time Skip]] #2, he became a grumpy, avaricious [[Jerkass]].

* [[Ant-Man|Hank Pym]] in the [[Marvel Universe]], though this fluctuates [[Depending on the Writer]].

* [[Batman]] has an on-and-off again history of this. ''[[All-Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder]]'' probably takes the cake though.

* Nearly every incarnation of [[Incredible Hulk|The Hulk]] goes through periods where he goes from [[The Woobie|Woobie]] to [[Jerkass Woobie]] to just plain [[Jerkass]].

* [[Namor]] with his oxygen-processing problem.

* [[Power Girl]] with her diet soda processing problem.

* ''Everybody'' in Archie Comics' [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] during Ian Flynn's run. Sonic was derailed to the point where he dissed Tails' parents in front of him and didn't apologize, and Fiona spontaneously turned evil despite the fact that nothing in the comics' past could have possibly hinted at such a turn. Even '''Tails''', the lovable eight-year-old child genius, was turned into a lovesick, smug, self-aggrandizing show-off.

* Batman to a ''huge'' extent in ''[[JLA: Act of God]]'', infamously.

 

* In [[Keepers of the Elements]], Courtney starts off as her usual bossy, [[Jerkass]] self, but then goes up [[Over Nine Thousand]] levels when she {{spoiler|[[Deal with the Devil|makes a deal]] with [[Big Bad|Radcliffe]] for powers of her own so she can get revenge on [[The Leader|Gwen]]}}

* In the Disgaea fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6984913/1/Disgaea_Jewel_of_the_gods Disgaea: Jewel of the gods] Laharl is a HUGE [[Jerkass]] to Adell, and Mao not even caring if they died, while in canon, he has a [[Hidden Heart of Gold]] for people.

** Well to be fair, [[Morality Chain|Flonne]] isn't there most of the time, making him a complete asshole to most people.

** He also REALLY hates Adell and Mao for being main characters in the sequels to Disgaea.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'': Gaston starts out as a mostly-harmless [[Handsome Lech]]. When it becomes clear his charms have no effect on Belle, he attempts to blackmail her into marrying him by having her father committed to the insane asylum under false pretenses. And just when you don't think he can sink any lower, he realizes that the Beast is the object of Belle's affection, and rallies a [[Angry Mob Song|lynch mob]] to kill him. And when ''that'' fails he stabs the Beast after the latter decides to spare his life.

* Anakin Skywalker from ''[[Star Wars]]''.

* ''[[The Wedding Singer]]'': Glenn Guglia morphs from a normal, loving fiance to a caricature of a [[Handsome Lech]].

* ''[[Titanic]]'' has the obnoxious aristocrat Caledon "Cal" Hockley, who starts out as a pompous, misogynistic [[Jerkass]]. He soon graduates to smack his fiancee around, trying to frame Jack for burglary, and when things ''really'' start to go south, kidnapping and attempted murder.

* Ash of the ''[[Evil Dead]]'' series does this over time. In the first film he's basically a [[Final Girl|Final Guy]], by the second he's a [[Badass]] and in the third he's a full blown [[Jerkass]].

* Sarah Connor in ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator 2]]'' is barely recognizable as the sweet-natured waitress from the first movie. The way she treats people, including her own son, uncomfortably evokes shades of [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]] and [[He Who Fights Monsters|She Who Fights Monsters]]. Fortunately, she seems to get better by the end.

* Clopin from ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' is first introduced as the colorful narrator of the film, and the master of ceremonies at the Feast of Fools, where he was very kind to Quasimodo. However, near the end of the movie, he is now the bitter judge (his hand puppet serving as Quasi's defense) presiding over the Court of Miracles, and is now very mean to not only Quasimodo, but also Phoebus as well, and as a result he wanted the two both sentenced to death for being spies of [[Complete Monster|Frollo]] (they were actually working against Frollo, not for him). Had Esmeralda not showed up at the Court of Miracles to stop Clopin and tell him that both Quasi and Phoebus are trying to help them, Clopin would had actually killed them both.

* In ''[[Deep Rising]]'', {{spoiler|Simon Canton}}'s plan at first was to destroy the ship {{spoiler|as an insurance scam}}, but to make it so all of the passengers live. Later though, he uses the others as bait so he can escape himself, and tries to kill Trillian and steal Finnegan's boat. {{spoiler|Fortunately though, he meets a Karmic Death in the end}}.

* Loki in ''[[Thor (film)|The Mighty Thor]]'': [[Tragic Villain]] and [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Woobie Destroyer Of Worlds]]. Loki in ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'': {{spoiler|omnicidal psychopath who enjoys torturing people and kills 80 people in two days ([[Crowning Moment of Funny|"He's adopted"]]). It's implied the trip through several dimensions to Earth [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know|took a toll on his already fragile sanity]], but wow.}}

 

== Literature ==

* Rand al'Thor in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' gets harder and colder as the series goes on, a combination of the trials of his position and his traumatic experiences (he's pretty mad as of book 7 and spirals downward into insanity from then on). [[It Got Worse|This gets really bad]] in The Gathering Storm, where he starts alienating even his closest friends and allies {{spoiler|to the point of nearly killing his own father out of misplaced rage and paranoia}}, before finally having a breakthrough while {{spoiler|having a good old therapeutic [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] rant and conversation with the voice in his head upon the site of the death of his last incarnation 3000 years ago}}..

* Onestar from ''[[Warrior Cats]]''. He's a [[Nice Guy]] early on, but after becoming the leader of WindClan, he becomes more of a jerk as he attempts to prove his Clan's independence.

* King Orrin in the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]''. He begins as a somewhat dissolute, but brave and intrepid young man and a vital component of the Varden (Orik even says that the Varden couldn't exist without his hard and dangerous work). However, stress, as well as feeling under-appreciated and overshadowed lead to a drinking problem in between ''Brisingr'' and ''Inheritance'', which leads to his taking a level in jerkass.

 

* Carrie from ''[[The King of Queens]]'', to the point of "[[What Does She See in Him?|What Does He See In Her?]]".

* Ryan was one of the more likable and sympathetic characters in the first few seasons of ''[[The Office]]'', but his sudden rise to power at Dunder-Mifflin coincided with a massive increase in the size of his ego. His humiliating, highly public fall from grace only seemed to make things worse.

** This also seems to have happened with Pam, albeit to a lesser extent.

* And Malcolm from ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''.

* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'': Season 1 serial killer Karl Arnold is shown again in season 5 episode ''Outfoxed''. Sure he wasn't a nice guy when they caught him, but four years later, he's got even worse.

** To be fair, since the main cast are portrayed as being either sophomores or juniors in high school, what reason does Tori have for even wanting a prom when it wasn't her time? Not that it excuses Jade being Jade, but Tori more or less ruined Jade;s big night.

* Vanessa and Jenny in ''[[Gossip Girl]]''. Jenny gains points for having gone from sweetheart-everyone-adores to being hated by pretty much all of the NJBC.

* Phoebe of ''[[Charmed]]'' seemed to take a level in jerkass at the end of her relationship with Cole.

** Actually, BSG seems to have tons of examples. Lt. Felix Gaeta, anyone?

** Also, Tom Zarek. Early in the series, he was a recurring political provocateur and alleged terrorist, but he actually managed to be somewhat nice towards the main characters, especially in the Kobol and New Caprica arcs. Flash forward to mid-season 4, and he's [[Flanderization|perpetrating a mutiny among the fleet]] and [[Moral Event Horizon|having the Quorum of Twelve gunned down]] in a petty power-grab while President [[Iron Lady|Roslin]] is in the midst of a [[Heroic BSOD]]. {{spoiler|Fortunately, he doesn't [[Karmic Death|survive it]].}}

** Well, to be fair he was already pretty much a jerk. And there were a few episodes dealing with him being a tad embarrassed of Gloria's lack of a higher education and in one episode Gloria worries that the above is exactly what would happen one day.

** Much to everyone's surprise it was Gloria who cheats on Michael, causing Archie to call her a whore. So it was [[Out-of-Character Moment|Gloria who takes a level in jerkass]].

* Cody Martin has been known for most of the ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody|Suite Life]]'' franchise as socially-awkward but lovable nerd. One couldn't help but root for him in the first season of ''On Deck'' as he fought with painstaking care to win Bailey's heart. Then, in the second season, he suddenly became full of himself, constantly fought with Bailey for dominance in the relationship, and even assumed Bailey and former love-interest Jessica were jealous of one another, despite a complete lack of evidence thereto.

** When {{spoiler|he and Bailey broke up and Zack got a girlfriend,}} after which he starts making fun of Zack for {{spoiler|having a girlfriend}}, and gains the sexist attitude that Zack recently got rid of.

* On ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'', Debra started out in the early seasons as a fairly reasonable everywoman who seemed to have a quite playful and loving relationship with Ray. Then, the character suddenly changed. It's hard to pinpoint exactly ''when'' the change occurred, but Debra eventually became a raging, [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male|physically-abusive]] and [[Smug Snake]] [[Karma Houdini]] who treated Ray like trash, [[Domestic Abuse|beat him up]], forbade him from seeing his friends most of the time, and convinced Ray's own children to feel contempt for him. Oh, and the worst part? The show tried to act like ''she'' was the reasonable one, despite her abusive, [[Jerkass]] behavior. So basically, she went from being a well-rounded, likable character in the beginning to the writers' [[Mary Sue]] by the end.

* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] had become increasingly arrogant over the last two seasons. It's partially justified in that being yanked out of Heaven and coming to buried alive in her own grave had been very traumatic. However, by the last season she had practically declared herself dictator of the group and made sneering comments when one of the girls under her charge committed suicide.

** Speaking of Faith, she does this to a frightening degree after she accidentally kills someone, to the point where Buffy is happy to kill her. She gets better following her first [[Angel]] appearance, however, to the point that she's one of the ''nicer'' characters by the end of the television series.

* Seth Cohen from ''[[The OC]]'' becomes noticeably more self-absorbed in later episodes. Arguably this helped round out his character a bit more and explain his previously [[Cool Loser|inexplicable]] unpopularity.

* Nate from ''[[Six Feet Under]]'', even though the personality changes are very gradual and subtle. His idealistic, free-spirited nature doesn't mesh well with his family responsibilities in season 5.

** Similarly, Rico

** Sebastian Smythe is another example. Sure, he was always a jerk, but mostly in the "lovable rogue" sort of way. Some people even shipped him with Blaine or Kurt or both. Fewer people do now thanks to {{spoiler|him tampering the slushy, causing Blaine to need surgery.}}

** Becky was a sweet kid in Season one but under Sue Sylvester's influence became ean and cruel

** Artie has shown signs of this in Season 3, especially when he's playing director.

** Priya and Raj in season four. For Priya, she basically forbade Leonard and Penny to hang out together due to jealousy, then {{spoiler|she lies to Leonard about not moving back to India. For no adequate reason}}. [[Karma Houdini]] doesn't cover it. For Raj, he begun to have lust for Howard's fiance Bernadette (and when being told a rumor of them breaking up, wanted to date her even though Howard possibly wouldn't let that fly) and then after {{spoiler|[[It Makes Sense in Context|Penny falling asleep before they could have drunken sex]] still acted like an ass that slept with her.}}

* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] after losing too many close friends too many times, to the point that he snapped, said "screw history!" and declared himself the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Time Lord Victorious]]. Then [[Heel Realization|someone killed herself]] to save the future and brought him back to Earth.

* Walter White of ''[[Breaking Bad]]'' becomes less and less sympathetic as the show goes on. [[Word of God|Vince Gilligan]] has confirmed this is deliberate.

* ''[[Roseanne]]'''s titular character started out as a gruff, but otherwise friendly and wisecracking blue-collar woman who loved her husband and kids, and slowly transformed into a cruel, selfish, sniping, raging, shrieking bitch with severe misandrist tendencies. On top of that, she was often portrayed as being in the right and getting away with being an asshole to everyone. Her daughter, Darlene, seemed to follow her into this mold. Given that this dovetailed with the men of the show (particularly Leon, Mark and David) becoming more and more pathetic, useless, and stupid, and that the show was practically written and run by Roseanne herself, it's a pretty clarifying look into her mindset at the time.

 

== Video Games ==

** In the third game his level in Jerkass manifests itself as a ''[[Super-Powered Evil Side]]''. At this point the Prince realizes how bad he's gotten and [[Character Development]] ensues.

* In ''[[Condemned]]'', Ethan Thomas is a nice enough guy, a gifted investigator, but personality-wise, he was never too impolite, despite clearly being under some MAJOR stress. Come the sequel, Ethan's undergone about a year of alcoholism as well as some [[Jerkass]] power leveling. He curses all the time and is routinely impolite and distrustful towards everyone who tries to help him. This is in fact underlined by the change in his voice actor and character design (he went from an [[Ambiguously Brown]] SCU agent wearing a nondescript police uniform, to a rather less ambiguously Caucasian bum in grunge clothes). The personality change is possibly justified by the year of vagrancy and the events of the first game.

** Some fans have suggested from certain changes in Saix's appearance (the pointed ears, lightened hair color, and perhaps most ominously, yellow eyes) that Isa may have been corrupted by darkness ''before'' he turned into a Nobody, which would certainly explain a lot...

** Ironically, between ''THUG'' and ''THUG 2'' he [[Took a Level In Dumbass]] and is treated as an incompetent loser in the latter.

** [[Word of God]] is that this was partly intentional: he and Dana were having relationship difficulties and were apart at the moment, causing him to be a little... grumpy.

** He suffers it again in Cataclysm, and randomly becomes racist. Despite not discriminating and even being friendly with the player in Nagrand. In short he's a walking [[Conflict Ball]].

** At the same time, he also seems to get rid of a few Jerkass elements too, ironically. For instance, while he is one of the major reasons as to why the war between the Alliance and Horde has reemerged, there are things he simply won't stand for. First off, he specifically does ''not'' approve of Sylvanas raising the newly dead on the battlefield to replenish the ranks of the Forsaken. He also gets really pissed off when he finds out that one of his commanders has been attacking night elf settlements to kill civilians. He is also the one who drives the Grimtotems out of the Horde when he finds out that they were responsible for]] {{spoiler|Cairne's death.}}

** Garrosh will be taking this trope to its logical conclusion in ''Mists of Pandaria''. {{spoiler|The final raid dungeon is going to be a siege on Orgrimmar itself by both Alliance and Horde, because apparently at some point in the expansion Garrosh does something [[Moral Event Horizon|''so horrible'' that it disgusts ''everybody'']].}}

* Palom was an overeager, boastful, and sort of annoying character in the original ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'', but that was probably excusable on account of him being five years old. In ''[[Final Fantasy IV: The After Years]]'', though, he's kind of a dick for no readily apparent reason before softening up some.

* Nathan Spencer in the 2009 ''[[Bionic Commando]]'' sequel.

** Within ''Soul Calibur III'''s [[Unexpected Gameplay Change|Chronicles of the Sword]] mode, Abelia, your friendly rival at the start of the story and, slightly later, useful ally, turns full tilt into a [[Knight Templar]] halfway through, complete with a costume change and deeper, more aggressive voice bank.

* Liara acts cold and distant in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', even if you were lovers by the end of the first game. She also has developed a ruthless streak, and both threatens people with violence and casually has her enemies murdered. If you persist, help her out, and make effort to get her come out of her shell, [[Jerkass Facade|she eventually reveals that most of her current behavior is a mask,]] [[Survivor Guilt|resulting from losing Shepard in the beginning of the game.]]

** The third game sees the Asari and Salarian Councilors take a few levels in Jerkass (contrast to [[Took a Level In Kindness|the Turian Councilor]]). They, however, are beaten out by Quarian Admiral Han'Gerrel, who ''power-levels'' in Jerkass to the point of [[General Ripper|doing positively insane things]] in his attempt to wipe out the Geth, including firing on a Geth Dreadnaught ''while Shepard and Tali are still inside it''. {{spoiler|If you fail to broker peace between the Quarians and Geth, he [[Leeroy Jenkins|has his ships bullrush the upgraded Geth fleet and gets them all - and himself -massacred]], while he is positively furious if you manage to get the two species to make peace}}.

* Maggie's father in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]''. When you first meet him, he's a pitiable pauper who is distraught over his daughter being kidnapped. But when Maggie comes back with a massive fortune in Skull Necklaces, he turns into a selfishly greedy bastard who won't even let Maggie get letters from her (sort of) love interest.

** There's also Ingo from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]''. While he was never the friendliest person in the game, he was nothing more than a disgruntled employee who complained about Talon's laziness when Link was a kid. After Ganondorf comes to power, he uses the Evil King's "good" graces to take the ranch for himself, exile Talon to Kakariko Village, and proceeds to generally make life miserable for Malon until Link returns and intervenes.

* Yukari in ''[[Persona 3]]''. She was genuinely [[The Cutie]] until FES' "The Answer", where she seems to have gained a [[Knight in Sour Armor|sour coating]] over her usual sugary sweet self. Though given the events of "The Journey", [[Your Mileage May Vary|some would see her as more of a]] [[Jerkass Woobie]], though later on [[It Gets Better|she gets better.]]

*** It's not even a Spirit of Justice anymore (though it likes to claim otherwise). It's a ''Demon of Vengeance.'' That's how badly it was corrupted.

*** Although it's implied that Justice's corruption (and his becoming a [[Knight Templar]] that [[Jumps Off the Slippery Slope]]) may not actually be Anders' fault, or at least not entirely; {{spoiler|Kirkwall is basically a city built right next to the prison that holds ''the origin of the darkspawn''. The prisoner in question can drive people insane without even being conscious and from miles away}}.

* ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' briefly fell into this trope in ''Crash Tag Team Racing'', numerous bonus cutscenes focusing on his [[Screwy Squirrel]] antics inside Von Clutch's Motorworld, ranging from feeding Park Drones mouldy apples to disintegrating them in rocket engines. Granted this reversed back in the following game, where he goes back to being a [[Kindhearted Simpleton]].

* Ema Skye of the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series is introduced as an aspiring forensic investigator, full of useful investigation techniques and eager to meet people in the business. However, eight years later she finds herself in a job she didn't want (detective work) after doing poorly on her forensic investigation exam and her derailed dream definitely takes its toll on her personality. The Ema of ''[[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice Ace Attorney]]'' is a sour and jaded woman who doesn't offer much help (unless she can use some of her forensic investigation techniques, at which point some of her original personality leaks out).

* Cloud does this between ''[[Crisis Core]]'', in which he's a shy, brave, and supportive person with really bad self-esteem (with some backstory about him picking fights with the people who bullied him in his hometown), and ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', in which he's a rude, cocky, reckless and obsessive person who deliberately antagonises his friends Barret and Wedge and does things like taking salary from a slum-dwelling little girl's school money. He's nicer to the girls, but also pretty sexist and won't trust them with anything on their own. He gets a lot nicer after a few hours of play, but he remains vengeance-obsessed and arrogant until his [[Heroic BSOD|entire persona implodes]] halfway through the next disk.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Due to sleep deprivation, Jade Harley of ''[[Homestuck]]'' has gotten a lot grumpier - although it should be noted that she's only like that to the trolls, who have been picking on her for her entire life (with the exception of [[Dogged Nice Guy|Tavros]]).

* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'' sees Mike go from a [[Nice Guy]] to a bitter [[Jerkass]] as part of its [[Deconstruction]] of the [[Tsundere]] archetype. Turns out all those years of [[Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male|getting punched around]] while his friends laughed have taken their toll. To make matters worse, by the time he finally snaps, Lucy has actually ''[[Character Development|improved]]'', and his newfound nastiness and need to vent all that pent-up frustration leave her [[Break the Cutie|more of a mess]].

 

== Web Original ==

* Foamy The Squirrel of ''[[Neurotically Yours]]'' has become much more of a completely bitter ass over the course of the series. This contrasts with his [[Characterization Marches On|earlier portrayal as a hyper-active squirrel who makes sarcastic quips about things]].

 

** Living in an [[Orphanage of Love]] might ironically have something to do with it. He wasn't used to having so much freedom before moving into Foster's, so it probably inflated his ego.

* [[Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight|Krusty the Clown]] from ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' went from being a slightly weary and cynical old showbiz figure, to a greedy, shameless sellout who doesn't care the slightest if his licensing products are crappy, or even downright dangerous.

** A large amount of the cast have evolved this way as the show has leaned into zanier more satirical territory. Even Marge and Lisa act rather mean spirited or outright unstable at times.

** The case can also be made for Courtney after her return to the show in season two. She went from being a slightly stuck-up and haughty girl who was still civil enough to be the [[Team Mom]], to a scheming, spoiled princess who uses her lawyers to cheat her way to numerous advantage on the show. She basically transformed from a significantly more good version of [[Rich Bitch|Heather]] to a straight up [[Expy]].

** Cleveland has had some Jerkass moments since he got [[The Cleveland Show|his own show]].

** Connie went from being the standard [[Alpha Bitch]] to a downright bitch, which was best demonstrated when she made fun of Meg shortly after the latter returned to school from being in prison for three months (to compensate [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|she pays for this]], and a lot of her Jerkass moments, to dire extremes).

** In contrast, Stan's own Jerkass tendencies have become more toned down or at least more [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well intentioned]] as the show has progressed.

** Principal Lewis has become quite the jerkass in recent episodes, he constantly harasses the students and uses them for his own selfish wants.

** Icky Vicky: Originally just a mean, bossy babysitter. Now a sadistic, maniacal human monster not above threatening her own parents to keep her [[Beneath the Mask|true colors]] a secret.

** Timmy's dad surely began showing signs of this as the series went on.

** Timmy himself has become more of a heartless asswipe each season. But thankfully not as awful as Norm the Genie's clone Timmy, whose extreme jerkiness causes his fairy god parents to quit their jobs.

* Johnny Canmore from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is the youngest and most innocent of the Canmore siblings, and the least inclined to take up his family's ancient feud against the Demon and her kind. As the events of "Hunter's Moon" transpire, he becomes a Jerkass and decides to take up the hunt even as his older brother and sister decide to give up on it.

** And [[What Could Have Been|if the show had gotten a fourth season]], he apparently would've gotten even ''worse'': {{spoiler|taking over after Ultra Magnus dies, becoming a [[Knight Templar]] with an authoritarian regime...}} Sheesh!

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' does this with the title character, and Mister Krabs. While Squidward is a [[Jerkass]] he's pretty much been one from the start.

** A good example of SpongeBob being more of a jerk comes in "A Pal for Gary". He gets some freakish pet, which constantly ruins Gary's life. And [[Jerk with a Heart of Jerk|SpongeBob]] constantly punishes the poor snail. Even after said snail saved him from the pet's horrific attempt to eat them.

** Mr Krabs can border into [[Faux Affably Evil]] territory in some episodes.

** Conversely, Squidward and Plankton have become more sympathetic characters as the characters [[Designated Hero|we're (apparently) supposed to like]] have taken copious levels in jerkass.

* Although Lemongrab of ''[[Adventure Time]]'' was a [[Jerkass Woobie]] literally since the day he was born, a deleted scene showed a much more insensitive, even malicious side to him. He terrorized a small candy child and made the poor little kid cry. THIS was originally the reason Finn and Princess Bubblegum decided to make him leave- you can tell, from the storyboards, how disgusted and shocked they were at Lemongrab's actions towards the child. While he's a jerk throughout the whole episode, progressively being more of a jerk the more he is pranked, Lemongrab scaring the crap out of that kid really was the peak of his jerkassery.

* While [[Daffy Duck]] of ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' fame was hardly an angel to begin with, he arguably was merely a [[Screwy Squirrel|prankster]] and an attention freak [[Cloudcuckoolander|too warped]] to understand the extent of his antics early on. As time passed Daffy became more stable and ambitious, as well as more embittered and obnoxious in personality, often acting as an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|antagonist]] for [[Bugs Bunny]]. His cruelty was taken to extremes with his pairings against [[Speedy Gonzales]] in the De Patie Freleng era.

* It's very easy to forget that [[King of the Hill|Peggy Hill]] was actually nice at the beginning of the show. She didn't start showing her egotism until season 3 and wasn't even a jerk about it until season 4.

** {{spoiler|Also, it's speculated that she might go into this against Velma, due to Velma having not told them a ''very'' important secret that was partially the reason why the gang split up.}}

** Irony is he's a [[Draco in Leather Pants/Western Animation|Draco in Leather Pants]], so the fangirls who actually build up the ''X-Men Evolution'''s [[Fan Dumb]], interprets ''him'' as the only good member of the Brotherhood, despite the fact that, arguably, he's the most self-centred character the series. Apocalypse is a [[Knight Templar]] who wishes for the world to become a Mutant utopia, [[Magneto]] is a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who wants to avoid another Holocaust, every other Brotherhood member has redeeming qualities (especially Avalanche), Colossus is an [[Anti-Villain]] under [[Blackmail]], Gambit is a hired Merc/thief who had some [[Pet the Dog]] Moments, Sabertooth and Pyro are just plain crazy... but Pietro is a calculating, selfish dick who serves only himself (and his father isn't a sufficient excuse for some of the shit he pulls).

* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', Dr. Scientist was more-or-less neutral in the first season. However, in "Heads Will Roll" he becomes a full blown villain, tormenting Heloise. This could just be the result of not having a major role before then.

* Charmcaster in ''[[Ben 10]]'' used to treat her golems (or whatever they were) like they were pets. In ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'', she can't go a few minutes without insulting the giant ones she has now for everything they do. Also, in the original series, while a troublemaking bitch, she wasn't murderous or out to take over the world. In ''Alien Force'', she does try to conquer the world, and expresses a gleeful desire to kill Gwen.

** Ben himself takes a massive level in Jerkass in the third season of ''Alien Force''.

'''Ed:''' [[The Woobie|Gee, if that's the way you *sniff* I mean if uh, all right then....]] }}

** In the same episode, Angel the Bunny, always a little bit of a brat, has become violently abusive and borderline sociopathic, making unreasonable demands regarding his breakfast, and then throwing Fluttershy's best effort away for being short one cherry and kicking her out of the house. The closest he comes to any kind of apology is an expression of gratitude after he realises [[I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham|he enjoys Fluttershy's cucumber slices]], but then, it was only because of [[Death Glare|the Stare]] that he was willing to try them in the first place.

*** Angel [[Took a Level In Kindness]] in a later episode, so it kind of evens out.

** This tendency is common with most of the characters in the show, due to its tendency to deconstruct the character's flaws as part of the episode's Aesop. Usually one of the characters will become highly egotistical, neurotic or vindictive (or in some exaggerated cases, [[Sanity Slippage|borderline insane]]) for a brief point [[Once Per Episode]] before learning their lesson and reverting back. Rainbow Dash may be a slightly more consistent example, if only because she has gotten the lion's share of Aesops in recent episodes and thus required more frequently to act up.

* In ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', when Ratchet {{spoiler|takes some [[Psycho Serum]]}}, it impairs his judgement, causing him to become increasingly obnoxious and aggressive, even to his own team. Not to mention becoming overconfident to take on ''Megatron'' and the Decepticons on his own (which would cost him). He not only ''[[Dirty Old Man|flirts]]'' with Arcee but he also directly [[What the Hell, Hero?|calls out]] Optimus for being too soft for what had happened to {{spoiler|Cliffjumper}} and also passing several chances to finish Megatron off. While his judgement was impaired, it's implied that he's saying what he would have normally held back. Fortunately, by the end of the episode, he returns back to normal.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]