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Ungrateful Bastard: Difference between revisions
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You'd be wrong.
Heroes don't always [[Hundred Percent Heroism Rating|get gratitude]], [[Dude, Where's My Respect?|recognition]], or even a basic [[Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like|"thank you"]] for their efforts, and sometimes, any [[Think Nothing of It|thanks are patently insincere]]. Rivals and enemies in particular tend to treat these saves with the same gratitude for the air they breathe (read, none). And that's if they aren't actively angry at being put through [[Embarrassing Rescue|the ignominy of being saved]] by [[You Rebel Scum|those filthy]] ''[[All of the Other Reindeer|freaks]],'' they'll usually [[The Farmer and The Viper|betray]] such mercy at the first opportunity. Ungrateful Bastards.
This is true even if it's a forced [[Enemy Mine]] situation, and he never even acknowledges the service rendered or is grateful, much less gets [[Character Development]] or a change in their relationship to [[Reset Button]]. This might be done either to show how utterly evil (or at least callous) the enemy is, and [[Status Quo Is God|avoid having the show's formula change]] with the [[Big Bad]] growing unable to kill or hate someone who has saved them so often.
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Contrast [[Grudging Thank You]]. Probably not related to the [[Inglourious Basterds]] kind. See also [[Entitled Bastard]].
{{examples
== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Mazinger Z (Anime)|Mazinger Z]]'': [[The Hero]] Kouji Kabuto, his [[Tsundere]] [[Battle Couple]] and [[Love Interest]] Sayaka Yumi, their families and their friends risk their lives on a constant basis to protect humankind of a [[Mad Scientist]] and [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] worked for Hitler and wants to [[Take Over the World]] and enslaving the whole humanity [[Freudian Excuse|to make them pay for all grievances he suffered in the past.]] How many "Thank you" they get? You guessed it, no one. Not only that but also people constantly blames them for the destruction and the deaths caused for the battles between Mazinger-Z and the [[Robeast|Mechanical Beasts]], [[Too Dumb to Live|apparently not realizing]] if Mazinger-Z did not exist, all of them would be corpses or slaves (or keeping in mind how Dr. Hell got his [[Mook|Mooks]], they could become BOTH). And every time [[The Dragon]] Baron Ashura blackmails the Japanese Government, they demand the Government gives in their threats (episode 17 provides with a good example).
** ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|Great Mazinger]]'': Tetsuya and Jun have the same kind of gratitude and regard. Or even worse. In the manga episodes penned by [[Gosaku Ota]] -one of the [[Go Nagai]] assistants-, [[The Dragon]] Great Marshall Of Hell {{spoiler|warned he would blow Tokyo up unless the [[Home Base]] and the [[Humongous Mecha]] of the heroes were destroyed. People demanded the Government yielded... And they did. The Fortress of Science was destroyed, and Tetsuya and his allies were forced to flee and lie low for a while.}} During that time they had absolutely NO help to try and keep defending the humankind. They got many insults, though.
** ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer (Anime)|UFO Robo Grendizer]]'': Duke Fleed and his [[Humongous Mecha]] is the only thing stands between the human beings and global genocyde. What he has in exchange? Danbei Makiba bossing him around and [[Overprotective Dad|threatening with killing him if he does so much like breathing near from his daughter Hikaru]]. Danbei also uses to complain if Grendizer did not exist, [[Too Dumb to Live|they could be such a good friends with the aliens]].
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*** To be fair, [[Complete Monster|its Mystique]]
* [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] can save J. Jonah Jameson, JJJ's family, and indeed the whole city of New York all day long if he likes; next morning, the ''Daily Bugle'' headlines are still going to be reading "[[Malicious Slander|Threat or Menace]]?"
** There's the occasional hint that Jameson actually does like Spider-Man, but that he puts on the horse and pony show to sell newspapers. And far more regular hints that JJ can't ''stand'' him. Actually, JJJ clearly stated that he was ''[[Green
** [[Ultimate Universe|Ultimate JJJ]], on the other hand, got a clue after a storyline event with the Chameleon caused him to learn Spider-Man's secret identity and Spider-Man's aid kept him from dying when he got shot in the head: this JJJ [http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2537055.html?#cutid1 refused to reveal his identity and vowed to do a complete 180 and "fight the world for him"]. Under most circumstances, this would likely be [[Retcon|Ret Conned]] as brain damage, or washing, or reversed quickly or eventually, but having only [[Brian Bendis|one single writer]] scripting the entire series helps avoid such problems.
** There's also enough evidence that New Yorkers, even if such mass consumers of [[Accentuate the Negative]] to make the Daily Bugle the number one paper, aren't as pliable to the mass media message, and ''will'' rally behind Spider-Man. This also pisses off J.J., but the only thing he likes more than subscription numbers is to be pissed off, so everyone's happy.
** Not to mention Spidey can deliver a quick dose of [[Laser
** Some of the [[New York City Cops]] are also more on the ball than their colleagues, and will cut the wall-crawler some slack when he makes their lives easier. On rare occasions, more belligerent cops will be called out by their partners, who point out that Spider-Man didn't actually do anything wrong.
*** Subverted in one older issue, on patrol, Spidey notices an old woman being mugged, he stops the mugger and returns her purse. She thanks him sincerely, promises to never read or believe JJJ's editorials from then on, and wishes him good luck in the future as he swings away.
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** And on occasions when it would even only slightly seem as if Superman would do something evil, everyone would consider it the truth (maybe except Lois and Jimmy, and sometimes not even them) and think he was evil or abandoned the city.
** However, perhaps as a way to distinguish it from Marvel, this quality was reduced considerably (though inconsistently) in DC humans over time to the point where hurting Superman is pretty much a [[Berserk Button]] for the entire city of Metropolis.
* When [[Supergirl]] and her then boyfriend Powerboy quelled a hurricane in Mexico, a general threatens them, saying it is illegal for metahumans to interfere with Mexican affairs. [[Shut UP, Hannibal|Powerboy threatens to bring the hurricane back, and the general shuts up]].
** Supergirl, again, dealt with this with Cat Grant after saving her life (and accidentally breaking Cat's arm in the process). This led Cat to go on a surprisingly effective smear campaign against the Girl of Steel. In the end, Supergirl merely left a note on her desk promising never to rescue her again.
* As befitting a [[Sociopathic Hero]] and [[Villain Protagonist]], [[The Punisher]] is this trope to the extreme. Not just to criminals who even risk their lives to save his own (it won't even buy you a decent death), but also to his friends. Even for the innocent, getting even a thank you out of Frank requires you to go above and beyond the call of duty.
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* In ''[[Team 8]]'', Naruto's team of himself, Shino, Hinata and Kurenai fights a team of missing-nin that kidnapped Konohamaru and Hinata's younger sister Hanabi. After being released, Hanabi shows little gratitude toward her rescuers, particularly her older sister Hinata, and expresses disdain toward her for getting knocked out first.
* In [[Naruto Veangance Revelaitons (Fanfic)|Naruto Veangance Revelaitons]], Ronan accuses [[Naruto]] of being this for {{spoiler|kidnapping Sakura after he supposedly saved him from committing suicide}}, but this is actually not true; {{spoiler|Ronan was willing to let Naruto die, and made no effort to save him when he committed suicide}}.
* In ''[[My Immortal (Fanfic)|My Immortal]]'', "Dumblydore" saves the lives of [[Designated Hero|"good"]] characters at least twice. They respond by constantly insulting and deriding him for [[What Do You Mean
* In one ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' fic, Link finishes up saving a village only for the mayor to throw him out because of the amount of damage Link caused. Link himself knew he was going to cause damage and was willing to fix it up, but the mayor's reaction sends him into a minor [[Heroic BSOD]] (He gets better).
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== Literature ==
* The Jedi in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|EU]] are consistently feared by the Galaxy. And while this fear is warranted (the Jedi have had multiple civil wars, singular Jedi who go dark can wreck an entire galaxy, they have special powers), for a few examples, during the Vong War, a large portion of the New Republic felt that the best thing to do would be to appease the Vong by giving them the Jedi. As of this post, the New Republic (Galactic Alliance) is more fearful of the Jedi than the remnants of the ''Empire''. Despite saving the Galaxy again and again, the Jedi just can't seem to catch a break.
** Blame DelRey for keeping an [[Idiot Ball]] in the [[Mooks]] of the galaxy to continue to write huge, galaxy spanning stories despite quality taking a nosedive. The most egregious examples are ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' and ''[[Legacy of the Force]]'', especially on the latter {{spoiler|where the idiots in the alliance elect a War Criminal to be their Chief of State who goes on to exile the Galaxy's savior, Luke Skywalker.}} [[What an Idiot!|What stupid fucking idiots.]]
* In [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s ''[[Tower and The Hive (Literature)|Talent]]'' series, early on the Talents provide a warning that saves the life of, among others, a Senator who's arguing vehemently to deny them legal protection--even though it also risks the life of their strongest defender. Undaunted, the Senator not only accuses them of perpetrating a hoax but also insists that real psychics would have known better.
* Steve from the ''[[The Saga of Darren Shan]]''. Darren saves him by sacrificing most of his humanity after an accident. And how does Steve repay him, by becoming a vampire slayer and vowing to kill him. All because he thought Darren stole ''his'' original dream of becoming a vampire.
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* ''[[Fallout New Vegas]]'': Colonel Cassandra Moore. When she asks you to {{spoiler|Kill the Brotherhood of Steel, you can instead negotiate a peace treaty with them, with the Brotherhood agreeing to send men to assist at Hoover Dam}} You gain NCR INFAMY for doing that. It probably has something to do with her being a [[General Ripper]], considering that, in addition to the Brotherhood, she wants to kill The Kings, the Great Khans and Mister House. [[Too Dumb to Live|Did she ever stop to wonder if it was reasonable to ask one person to wipe out four major factions and weather s/he might have a problem with it?]]
** Moore served in Operation Sunburst a few years prior, which saw the NCR and Brotherhood in a state of open war and in which the NCR incurred massive casualties before wearing the Brotherhood down via sheer weight of numbers. Her unhappiness over an alliance with them is understandable, even if not exactly agreeable. Likewise, the Great Khans ''boast'' about their open antagonism towards the NCR and although they've fallen on hard times lately, even a cursory look at their recent past paints them as little more than opportunistic raiders who killed and stole whatever they pleased. A former Great Khan who was present at the Bitter Springs Massacre even says the tribe got what was coming to them.
* In ''[[Dragon Quest VI (Video Game)|Dragon Quest VI]]'', {{spoiler|even after you weaken Murdaw by defeating him in the dream world and, you know, ''saving the monarchs of Somnia from certain doom'', the guards of Somnia will still treat you like a piece of shit due to the [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|events]] of your last visit. Thankfully, the recently awakened king sets them straight before things can get hairy.}}
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the player can rescue {{spoiler|Magatha Grimtotem}} from the Twilight's Hammer cult, but she responds with a promise to kill the player if they ever meet again.
* At the end of ''[[Crash Bandicoot|Crash: Twinsanity]]'' Dr. Neo Cortex {{spoiler|learned from his mistake and goes back to being Crash's arch rival}}.
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* ''[[Thistil Mistil Kistil]]'': [http://tmkcomic.depleti.com/comic/ch02-pg20/ Loki's interpretation.]
* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', neither of the two fairies shows Annie or Kat any gratitude or even courtesy for helping them reconcile.
* In ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'', the [[Author Avatar]] saves {{spoiler|Spades Slick}} from fatal wounds and the death of his universe, and nurses him back to health. How is said [[Author Avatar]] thanked? Multiple stab wounds and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|stubborn refusal to drink his fresh Butler-milk]].
* In ''[[Erstwhile]]'', the bride orders Maid Maleen [[Bride and Switch|to take her place at the ceremony]] under threat of death, and Maid Maleen returns as soon as the ceremony is done. [http://www.erstwhiletales.com/maidmaleen-25/#.T298etm6SuI The bride snaps at her.]
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* Wasp from ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. Ever since the day [[Kid Appeal Character|Bumblebee]] accidentally sent him to prison for a crime Wasp did not commit, Wasp has since then vowed revenge on Bee for betraying him and wants to kill him one day. When Wasp because of his obsession with revenge on Bumblebee for framing him, accidentally gets mutated into a technorganic monster, Bumblebee is now horrified by Wasp's hideous new look, and immediately apologizes to him. Wasp's response:
{{quote| '''Wasp''': (in his pre-organic voice) Wasp... forgive... Bumblebot... (brief pause, now in his "normal" voice) [[That Man Is Dead|...BUT WASPINATOR ''NEVER'' FORGIVE!!!"]]}}
* Maria Hill from ''[[The Avengers:
* In ''[[My Life As a Teenage Robot]]'', Jenny is kicked out of a popular teen hangout because Mezmer, the owner, [[Fantastic Racism|refuses to serve robots.]] Later on, she saves the shop from a gang of space bikers. Mezmer still kicks her out, but this time, the rest of the teens, who were grateful that Jenny saved them, leave as well.
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