Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Difference between revisions

*** As if it wasn't bad enough that Zinnia endangered Earth by helping Team Aqua/Magma trigger an apocalypse so she could 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 has 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 to destroy the meteor 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 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.

** 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 dangerously ''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 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 [[Jerkass|the execution]] makes it hard to like him, let alone love him. He constantly whines, bitches, and complains about everything Peter "Star Lord" Quill does, and won't hesitate to throw tantrums that compromise the team's missions. ''Every single time'' the Guardians hit a snag in their plans he'll chew out Peter, culminating in him {{spoiler|''briefly ditching the team'' in the middle of an important mission}}, and even after {{spoiler|he rejoins}} he'll still loudly complain and tear into Peter over the smallest thing. While you can have Peter call him out at multiple points, he often doubles down on his obnoxious behavior and [[Never My Fault|never genuinely apologizes for the way he acts]], making him feel like every bit the manchild that Peter is often accused of being.

* ''[[Crusader of Centy]]'' paints its monsters as innocent, misunderstood victims of discrimination from humans, with the [[An Aesop|Aesop]] being not to judge or hurt those who are different from you. Now while you ''do'' see examples of monsters being unfairly attacked by humans ([[Hero of Another Story|Amon]] attacking the Slime family unprovoked, monsters being imprisoned in the king's dungeons without doing anything bad), the problem is that it's usually the monsters that are attacking people and animals for no good reason. Whether it's the Big Bad Wolf trying to kill and eat a defenseless old woman, the Puppet Master attacking and leaving Dodo for dead, or hell, ''every single enemy attacking you the second you're within their sights'', it's very easy to lose sympathy for their plight. Especially once the [[Humans Are The Real Monsters]] preaching goes in full-swing after the boss fight with Maldra, who you're shamed for killing all out of a lust for power... despite the fact that it's as clear cut of an example of killing in self-defense as it can get.

* This trope is why Therese is [[The Scrappy]] of ''[[Octopath Traveler]]'': despite knowing just how [[Oblivious to Love]] Cyrus is, she's so jealous of Princess Mary trying to make romantic advances on him that she decides to ruin his life out of petty revenge by spreading rumors of him being guilty of ''sexual misconduct''. This gets him fired from Atlasdam's Royal Academy, and while he's okay with it since it gives him an excuse to leave and set out on a hunt for a stolen [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]], it doesn't change the fact that, in her own words, she just "wanted to get (him) in a little trouble". Trouble that, given how Princess Mary is ''royalty'', could easily end with him scheduling a date with the headsman's axe if word of his "misdeeds" made its way to the king.

 

== Western Animation ==