Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Difference between revisions

* A recurring problem with ''[[Pokémon]]'' villains introduced in later games is that while they skew towards the [[Tragic Villain]]/[[Anti-Villain]] side of the sliding scale of villainy, they tend to act in ways that invalidate their sympathetic treatment in the eyes of many a player.

** While Archie and Maxie's overhaul in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' makes them easier to sympathize with in a way that ''doesn't'' cause them to run afoul of this trope, the same can ''not'' be said about other villains in the same games. Funnily enough, both examples are found in the post-game Delta Episode.

*** It's bad enough that Zinnia endangers Earth by helping Team Aqua/Magma trigger an apocalypse so she can get Rayquaza to swoop in and save the day. She does it ''twice''. And the second time she does it, she severely undercuts whatever good intentions she had by acting like a rude and condescending [[Smug Snake]] who deliberately sabotages safer attempts at preventing a meteor strike so she can act morally superior to Professor Cosmo and Steven, who had no way of knowing that their plan to transport the meteor to another dimension would have endangered that dimension's Earth in return. She also commits several acts of assault and burglary on top of that, and had it not been for sheer dumb luck, her plan to summon Rayquaza would have backfired and gotten everyone killed. And yet she's never taken to task over her actions, making her come off as worse than the similarly Archie and Maxie who at least genuinely repented when they saw what their actions led to.

*** Depending on the game, Matt or Courtney start causing trouble to avenge their boss, who's bummed out after their defeat in the main campaign. While it isn't right, it's at least understandable. But what's a lot less understandable is the fact that they deliberately try to [[Disproportionate Retribution|'''destroy the world''']] over it. Despite inexplicably turning into [[Omnicidal Maniac|Omnicidal Maniacs]] on par with [[Pokémon X and Y|Lysandre]], they get off with a slap on the wrist and ''their bosses'' are the ones who have to apologize for their sudden descent into batshit insanity.

** The narrative of ''[[Pokémon Sun and Moon]]'' tries its best to paint {{spoiler|Lusamine}} as a flawed, but otherwise good woman who was ultimately a victim of {{spoiler|Nihilego}}'s corrupting influence. However, her sadistic cruelty, abhorrent treatment of her children, and sociopathic tendencies in general make her look far worse than the developers intended. And it doesn't help that we don't see ''any'' of her genuinely good and altruistic deeds on-screen, making {{spoiler|Lillie}}'s assertions that she was a loving mother in the past feel like she's in denial of the monster {{spoiler|Lusamine}} really was. Not even {{spoiler|Nihilego}}'s influence is the get-out-of-jail-free card that the developers intended, because its venom doesn't brainwash people so much as it brings out their worst traits, making her come off as a bad woman turned worse rather than a good woman warped into an unrecognizable psycho.

** In theory, {{spoiler|Chairman Rose}} from ''[[Pokémon Sword and Shield]]'' is a sympathetic, if misguided [[Anti-Villain]] whose patriotism and fear for the future cause him to take extreme measures to protect the Galar region from an impending energy crisis. But the attempts at making him sympathetic fall flat, not because he's too evil or crosses any major lines... but rather, because he's recklessly ''stupid''. {{spoiler|Galar's energy crisis isn't going to be a problem for '''thousands of years''', yet he's so impatient and eager to use the dangerous and vicious Eternatus as an energy source that he can't wait ''a single day'' to execute his master plan in a way that ''won't'' endanger an entire stadium of innocent civilians despite Leon's warnings}}. The fact that he ''is'' deeply remorseful for what he's done to the point of turning himself in to the police takes the edge off a bit, but a lot of players still feel that he comes off looking like an impatient dumbass instead of a noble [[Tragic Villain]].

* Rocket Raccoon from ''[[Guardians of the Galaxy (2021 video game)|Guardians of the Galaxy]]'' is presented as a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold|lovable asshole]] whose heart is in the right place, but he tends to come off as [[Jerkass|purely an asshole]]. He constantly whines, bitches, and complains about everything Star Lord does and throws tantrums that compromise the team's missions, but he blames all of the team's problems on him before {{spoiler|eventually ''ditching them'' for a bit in the middle of an important mission}}. While Star Lord can call him out for his behavior, he simply argues back and never genuinely apologizes for all his screwups, making him feel like the manchild the narrative and characters accuse Star Lord of being.