Unpopular Popular Character: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Do you guys know why nobody else at school likes hanging out with you? Because you're always doing stuff like this. You're always coming up with some stupid idea to do something, and then it backfires, and then you end up in some foreign country, or in outer space or something. That's why no one likes hanging out with you guys."''
|'''Craig''' to '''Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny''', ''[[South Park]]''}}
A character who is liked in the fandom is treated badly or overlooked in the show by other characters, often to the point of being the [[Butt Monkey]]. Occasionally though, this is intentional by the writers and becomes a [[Running Gag]]; the character isn't an extreme stereotype or even that annoying. It's just funny.
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{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==▼
* The Trix Rabbit. Who doesn't want him to get that cereal, kids watching the commercials included? The company has, at least once, run polls to see if he should get the cereal. When they do, [[Pet the Dog|the answer is inevitably "yes" in a]] ''[[Pet the Dog|landslide]]''. (Oddly, in one of these polls after he won it in a cycling contest, the decision to give it to him was made not by any kids in-story, but the contest's adult judge.) And at least once, the rabbit has gotten his wish with no strings. There have been other times when he's gotten it only to discover he is missing something (like
▲== Advertising ==
** Oddly, this last commercial had
▲* The Trix Rabbit. Who doesn't want him to get that cereal, kids watching the commercials included? The company has, at least once, run polls to see if he should get the cereal. When they do, [[Pet the Dog|the answer is inevitably "yes" in a]] ''[[Pet the Dog|landslide]]''. And at least once, the rabbit has gotten his wish with no strings. There have been other times when he's gotten it only to discover he is missing something (like Milk, although that one was actually a Got Milk? ad). One time, the Trix rabbit was moping in front of a little girls' house, when she said she would be willing to give the rabbit Trix. The rabbit actually was able to eat a spoonful before the girl's big brother woke up and took it away.
▲** Oddly, this had 2 versions. Originally, the girl is whispering the whole time, and the brother discovered them. For whatever reason, it was re-shot with the girl yelling "Be very quiet! We don't want to wake my big brother!", as if she's warning her brother to get in there before the rabbit eats too much.
*** My guess is that it was done to make the brother look less like a Jerkass for stopping his sister. Instead it just makes them both look even worse.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* L from ''[[Death Note]]'' isn't exactly well-liked in universe (having literally no friends and no social skills), but he is probably the most popular character with the fandom. Even those who don't like him do tend to have respect for his professional abilities, though.
* Bastion (Daichi) Misawa on ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' is fairly popular among the audience, but is continually mistreated in the series. A recurring joke is that the other characters interrupt him without ever bothering to apologize. At one point in the second season, he threw an important duel once promised that he would be treated better if he lost. (Ironically, it was the only time he dueled the entire season, and he was treated even ''worse'' afterwards.)
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* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': Sanosuke Sagara is one of the most popular characters in the series(he's placed second in all the popularity polls after Kenshin himself). Within the story, he's often subjected to [[The Worf Effect]], and many characters don't quite respect him due to his [[Idiot Hero]] tendencies.
* Tomoko Kuroki from ''[[It's Not My Fault I'm Not Popular!]]''. A [[Shrinking Violet|shy]] [[Otaku]] girl with [[No Social Skills]] who gets into many [[Cringe Comedy|humiliating situations]] because she, well, as the title may indicate, wants to be popular. Got quite the following on [[Image Boards|/a/]], [[This Loser Is You|primarily for how close to home it hits]]. [[The Woobie|And how huggable the character is]].
* ''[[One Piece]]'':
** Chopper is often overlooked and neglected by the World Government and the Marines, who believe he is simply a pet for the Straw Hats. His bounty has yet to rise above 1000 Berries, compared to the rest of the crew whose bounties are in the millions. Fans, on the other hand ''love'' him, a manga popularity poll making him the #4 member of the crew at 2725 votes (beating out Robin's 2644 votes) described as described as "Majorly popular for his cuteness and drive!"
** Sanji too. The man's a pervert who gets on everyone's nerves (including, frequently, the other Straw Hats) but that is the very reason fans just ''love'' him. He was ''third'' in that poll with 6235 votes.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Spider-Man, arguably the [[Trope Codifier]]: one of the most beloved and popular of all super heroes in real life, in addition to being Marvel's flagship character and mascot (or he used to be, anyway, if you consider [[Wolverine]] to be the current one); but widely feared and distrusted by the Marvel U. public with frustrating consistency. One of the key factors that made him such an effective [[Deconstruction]] of the [[Superhero]] at the time of his creation, it's become an integral part of his character to the point that he has it worse than pretty much anyone else in the Marvel U. (where practically everyone who isn't [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] or [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] has to deal with this, and even they have had their moments).
* [[Scott Pilgrim]], on his own comic book, is depicted as being the butt monkey of almost, if not all, of his friends, and his own girlfriend, Ramona, to the point that (being played for laughs), Stephen Stills told Knives Chau (Scott's previous short-term girlfriend, and stalker) that EVERYBODY hates Scott. To the reader, Scott is just a shy, cute, awkward, video gamer guy, who's trying to come out into the world. This is, however, {{spoiler|later subverted, as we can see that Scott is, indeed, an ass, and deeply flawed by a lot of things, like ignoring past lessons, and mistreating his friends and loves a number of times. A lot of readers and fans took this personally, and some even started to outright hate him, even more than Ramona's evil exes. He's getting better and maturing, very very slowly, so the readers, and his friends, start to root for him and like him again.}}
* [[Deadpool]] might be one of Marvel's most popular characters right now, but he's not liked by heroes and villains alike. He's one of the most talented mercenaries in the Marvel Universe (he beat [[Taskmaster]] with his hands cuffed behind his back) but he can barely get a job because of his bad reputation.
* Given the popularity of ''[[X-Men]]'' and related titles, pretty much every mutant hero has this - even those regarded as [[The Scrappy]] to fans has endured more anti-mutant scorn in-universe than they've gotten from fans. Female mutants tend to have more "waifu" fans than most other comic book heroines.
== [[Film]] ==
* James Norrington from ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' is the epitome of this. He didn't get his girl, his entire ship and crew were destroyed, he was {{spoiler|[[Redemption Equals Death|killed in ''At World's End'' saving the hides of Elizabeth and her Chinese crew]]}}, and he apparently didn't deserve a ''first name'' until the second movie. But ask your average (female) ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' fan; he is ''very'' popular.
** He's a decent role model, too. A man principled enough to stand against both piracy ''and'' the nefarious deeds of the East India Trading company, their mortal enemy. Even in the face of death, humiliation, and [[Did Not Get the Girl|non-girl-getting]].
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* Donnie, from ''[[The Big Lebowski]]''.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Fitz Kreiner of the ''[[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] Eighth Doctor Adventures'' basically constitutes a subversion. All but one of the recurring protagonists are genuinely fond of him, and the only one who isn't doesn't like anyone but tolerates him more willingly than she does most people. It's just that they also see him as [[The Ditz]] and a [[Kavorka Man]]. Even [[The Messiah|the Doctor]], who really does [[Ho Yay|like him quite a bit]], has been known to insult his intelligence to his face repeatedly over the course of a single conversation.<ref>"'Yes, you know, you could be right. It is just possible,' he decided, tapping his chin with a long index finger, 'that your [[The Watson|knack of stating the obvious]] is actually a talent bordering on [[Genius Ditz|genius]].[...] But more likely, [...] it's just [[Take That|an annoying habit nurtured by your inability to grasp]] [[You Keep Using That Word|basic principles]].'"</ref> And it's not so much that he's an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]; he gets good plotlines and is second in "screen" time only to the Doctor. He just is also accused of never taking an interest in anything he can't "drink, inhale, play, dance to or [[Curse Cut Short|--]]" even though ''he totally does''. He reads Sartre, for goodness's sake. And it's often said that he competes with the Doctor for popularity among the readers, who generally see him as [[The Woobie]]. So, basically, he's well-liked by the audience and the other characters, but the other characters all ''treat'' him like the [[Butt Monkey]].
* Mat Cauthon of ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' is one of the most [[Badass]] and popular characters in the series, but he tends to be treated like dirt by many of the other characters, who still think of him as a lazy, [[Handsome Lech]] farmboy despite the fact that a few books in, he's a brilliant general, a [[Born Lucky|supernaturally lucky]] low-level [[Reality Warper]], is fated to marry the most powerful woman in the world, defeated two trained swordsmen with a [[Simple Staff]], has an artifact that makes him immune to magic, invented cannons, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and has a]] [[Nice Hat]]. This has a lot to do with the fact that most of his [[Character Development]] took place [[Four Lines, All Waiting|while everyone else was out doing their own thing]], but he still doesn't get the respect he deserves until people see his awesomeness with their own eyes.
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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* Although a fan favorite, Seamus Harper of ''[[Andromeda]]'' was treated increasingly worse in each subsequent season, becoming the butt of stupid jokes and the target of the other characters' unwarranted hostility, even [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|raped by Magog]].
* Radek Zelenka, from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', is a gifted scientist, but never got much respect from Rodney McKay, and by the fourth season, is not getting respect from ''anyone''. Fans, however, like his capacity for comedy... and his ability to curse violently in Czech.
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** Although, in later seasons, Urkel became so annoying and overdone, that not even the fans really liked him very much anymore.
* Benjamin Linus on ''Lost'' is a manipulative liar - he admits this quite cheerfully whenever the subject comes up - who sacrifices his own adopted daughter in a misguided attempt to hold on to his power (he thinks she can't be killed), is at least partly responsible for the deaths of many Dharma Initiative people, as well as personally responsible for his own father's death (an abusive drunk, but still...) and that of John Locke. Yet Ben became a fan favorite very quickly, and maintained that status right through the series finale, to the point that the showrunners gave him a major role in the DVD Boxed Set 'extra' epilogue.
* ''The entire cast'' of ''[[Married With Children]]''. Peg is really the only one with much of a social life, but not much of one. Al is probably the biggest loser in television history, Budd is considered anathema to most women on the show, Kelly is only popular with classmates [[Really Gets Around| for one reason]], and Marcie seems determined to be purposely as unlikable as possible. Still, try telling that to the [[Studio Audience]].
* All of the [[Arrested Development (TV series)|Bluths]] count technically, but special mention has to go to [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Gob]], as even his own family don't really care for him.
* [[Red Dwarf|Arnold Judas Rimmer]].
* Sheldon from the [[Big Bang Theory]] is seen as the weirdest nerd out of the whole group by far, which is really saying something, but he is also very popular with the fans, much more so than the creators intended.
* [[The Muppets]] are this. Their show is panned and mocked by most folks in-universe, and it's very hard for them to find work otherwise. Many episodes of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' suggested they were struggling simply to keep the place open, while the first episode of ''[[Muppets Tonight]]'' stated that Clifford was the new emcee simply because he was the only one who wanted the job. To fans, however, they've a group of [[Breakout Character]]s who never truly lost their touch.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Loud Howard from ''[[Dilbert]]'', a character defined by having [[No Indoor Voice]] . Everyone in the strip hates him, as he seems to exist only to be annoying, [http://dilbert.com/strip/2006-10-11 Dogbert going so far as to express wonder] as to why he has fans. But he certainly does, likely due to being an [[Adaptational Badass]] on the cartoon.
* Charlie Brown from ''[[Peanuts]]''. He's a lonely kid who always fails, the other characters rarely respect him, he has very few friends - fans love him. When he gets only rocks at Halloween, bags of candy flood in from fans as gifts for him, and when he gets no Valentines from his class, fans send him them by the hundreds. Why? Mostly, it's because a lot of folks know exactly how he feels, because they've been there.
* Monty of ''[[Robotman and
* In ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'', we have Rat, an ego-driven [[Jerkass]] and Pig, [[The Ditz]], as the main characters, along with the even stupider Crocs as [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]s.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* This trope has been a staple of pro wrestling at least since the 1990s, especially insofar as the heels are concerned. During the "Attitude Era", WWE began to increasingly give its heels gimmicks that were more frightening or politically incorrect than they had had before - but, surprisingly, many fans found these gimmicks entertaining rather than repellent, and cheered on the heels, forcing WWE to convert these characters into faces in-universe as well. That's how [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] became a huge fan favorite, (and to a lesser extent [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]) not to mention [[Randy Orton]] in our own era.
* [[Zack Ryder]], who as a result not only enjoyed a [[Heel Face Turn]] but [[Breakout Character|jumped more than a few rungs on the WWE card seemingly overnight]].
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'':
** Eilistraee from the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' setting. Many players find it hard to believe that her faith is not the most popular church on Faerun, at least among good-aligned races. First off - the obvious - she's a [[Hot Goddess]] who eschews clothing, being the embodiment of Freedom; as such, she’s led some of the most successful [[Slave Revolt|slave uprisings]] and freed entire [[Slave Race]]s, and her clergy encourages charity, generosity, and mercy, tenets most Paladins adhere to. She also encourages dancing and revelry, and if a worshiper remains loyal to her cause long enough, she might show up in person at one of their moonlight rituals and offer to have the next dance, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. What’s not to love? Well... She’s a drow. That pretty much covers it. On Faerun, grudges last long, and as well-intentioned as Eilistraee is, few are willing to warm up to the idea that she is not the [[Manipulative Bitch]] and [[Social Darwinist]] demon-goddess that [[Evil Matriarch| her mother - Lolth]] - is known to be. Drow who live in the Underdark are ''afraid'' of her, believing she is a vamp who will tempt them with her beauty in order to kill them and consume their souls, a lie that Lolth encourages her clergy to spread; thus, most of Eilistraee's followers are drow who venture to the surface and become entranced by the beauty of the surface world - they are very much a minority. The Harpers (who are themselves often [[Hero with Bad Publicity|Heroes with Bad Publicity]]) support her faithful, they do so covertly. Eilistraee also has refused the offer of help from the rest of the elven pantheon, insisting that the task of freeing her subjugated people from her cruel mother is a burden she must bear alone. The fact that her faithful have lasted even to the present day speaks volumes for her tenacity and willpower.
*** The same can be said for Drow in general, albeit for different reasons. [[Evil Is Cool]], [[Evil Is Sexy]], both resulting in them being popular among players. [[Rule 34]] artists feature them far more than any other fantasy RPG race, and it doesn't help that many of illustrations of them in [[Chainmail Bikini]]s and other [[Stripperiffic]] outfits are 100% canon, seeing as drow are serious [[Attention Whore]]s. Of course, the ''reason'' for this is that is drow are social Darwinists to the extreme [[A Nazi By Any Other Name| obsessed with perfection]], and they love showing off their allegedly perfect curves to enemies and allies alike. This is not overlooked by civilized races in-story; there's an old elven saying, "Where the drow go, death follows"; most everyone else (including other Underdark racs and enemies of the elves, such as orcs) take this to heart.
** Tieflings are a playable race who were introduced in the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting, along with bariaur and githzerai. Referred to as “planetouched” they are mortals with fiendish blood somewhere in their family line, meaning they are, at most, one-fourth fiend. As such, they are never accepted by other planars. Most other planars believe tieflings are evil by birth, and rarely hide this opinion from them, rarely trusting tieflings and rarely trusted ''by'' them. ([[Fantastic Racism]] at its worst.) Indeed, many tieflings become villains because [[Then Let Me Be Evil| they figure they can never be accepted as heroes]]. Still, tieflings are the only planar race regularly used as playable characters ''outside'' the ''Planescape'' setting (and for that matter, the other two mentioned above were never popular even within it, nor were later options like aasimar or rogue modrons). Many players love the idea of a sexy [[Cute Monster Girl]]<ref>There plenty of male tieflings, of course, not all are physically pleasing, and even the ones who are don’t always fit the [[Shameless Fanservice Girl]] Trope, but the racial bonus to Charisma and most artwork has enforced a stereotype.</ref> portrayed as a rebel and outcast, making tieflings a good choice for anyone who wants to go against the norm, especially if they want to play a Warlock, Sorcerer, or Rogue.
*** In a big way, this makes them even more popular than the drow in that regard; the "fanservicey rebel and outcast who rejects her past" theme easily applied to them, but with the downside that they are regarded (in a meta-sense) of being "Drizzt clones" even when that wasn't the intention. Tieflings have no load-bearing NPC crutch, meaning the theme can be used more liberally.
** Also, both Glasya (Archduke of the Sixth Layer of Hell) and Fierna ([[Dragon-in-Chief]] and [[Dragon with an Agenda]] towards her father Belia, Archduke of the Fourth) are very popular choices for diabolic villains and devil-worshipping cults, at least to Dungeon Masters and, on occassion, players who use evil PCs. The whole [[Evil Is Sexy]] Trope coming into play, In-universe, however, both of them are young (compared to other infernal rulers) and their cults are very small, not nearly as powerful or numerous as those of the older Lords of the Nine.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Luigi from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' tends to be neglected by the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser and his men, apparently the entire population of the Beanbean Kingdom, [[Metal Gear|Colonel Campbell]]... Everyone except the Toads, it seems.
** It's also of note that Luigi is explicitly presented as a man who's far less popular than his older sibling, [[Mario]]. This goes so far as to suggest Luigi is constantly in Mario's shadow, that he is [[Super Smash Bros.|the King of Second Bananas]]. Interestingly enough, there is a great population of Mario fan site members who increasingly favour Luigi ''because'' he is less popular. Ironically, this generally has Luigi garnering more votes than Mario in the typical fan poll, suggesting that Luigi is more popular than his 'more famous' sibling.
** It's been theorized that his increased popularity is a result of his being explicitly ''written'' as King Of Second Bananas. Constantly living in his brother's shadow and never being able to stand apart from his brother on his own accomplishments has made him neurotic, given him an inferiority complex, and (if [[Super Smash Bros.|Brawl]] is anything to go by) driven him quite mad. This makes him a much more complex and interesting character, especially when placed next to his squeaky-clean, middle-of-the-road, whitebread brother.
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* Papyrus in ''[[Undertale]]''. Albeit he has it better than other characters listed here, as he has the unconditional affection of his older brother Sans and is in friendly terms with Undyne, in universe he is only considered an appendix of his brother at best, nobody outside his family seems to know his name, is treated more or less as a loud annoyance, and somehow managed to have a negative number of friends in the Undernet. But because of his [[Awesome Ego]], actually sweet personality, and being just plain funny, he is one of the most popular and beloved characters in fandom.
==
* [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]] Belkar in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' is a casually murderous jerk with no real loyalty to his companions, and the feeling is definitely mutual, as they only keep him around because he's useful/can be "aimed" at the villains. Readers on the other hand love his antics, some so much that they gave him the [[Draco in Leather Pants]] treatment (such as in insisting he's [[Chaotic Neutral]] even though he's canonically identified as [[Chaotic Evil]] on multiple occasions).
* Black Mage of ''[[8-Bit
** King Steve also applies, having approval ratings so low the majority of people would rather die than have him rule.
* Rebecca Sue McKay of ''[[Shadowgirls]]'' is treated like dirt by just about everyone at school because of the circumstances surrounding her birth. Fans of the book, however, want to give her a [[Just Friends|great big platonic bear hug]] whenever she's feeling down.
* Kali of ''[[Enjuhneer]]'' was created as a literalization of the "[[Invisibility|invisible roommate]]," but the author has mined her abilities for so many jokes that at times she practically feels like a second main character.
== [[Web Originals]] ==▼
▲== Web Originals ==
* [[Captain Planet|Ma-Ti]] in [[That Guy With The Glasses]], [[Incredibly Lame Pun|in-'verse]], is ranked somewhere between 'object of pity' and '[[The Scrappy]]' by his compatriots {{spoiler|unless he's packing heat}}. In fandom, he's a [[Woobie]] of epic proportions and is usually paired off with at least one hot chick by the end of the fic.
** They seem to be aware of this though, since in ''[[Kickassia]]'', while Ma-Ti was only in it for one scene (partially because the actor did not want to be typecast), he gets to call [[The Nostalgia Critic]] out on his douchbaggery, cementing his place as an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]].
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[SpongeBob SquarePants|Squidward Tentacles]] is one of the most infamous examples of this trope, being berated, loathed, disrespected, and even ''assaulted'' by the rest of the characters, yet is widely considered to be the most sympathetic character on the show.
** Spongebob himself, seeing as Bikini Bottom actually has a holiday where they celebrate how much they hate him. (And no, he isn't invited.) Still, to fans, he's lovable.
* One long-running example is ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' character Daffy Duck, whose [[Flanderization|escalating rivalry over the years]] with Bugs Bunny was balanced by the audience knowledge that Daffy actually ''was'' very funny.
** Interestingly Daffy has been used more and more by Warner Bros. in recent years, often with Bugs not even appearing in various works, or only playing a minor role.
* [[Disney]]'s [[Donald Duck]] fared similarly, although this probably had more to do with his general bad luck; heck, it's right there in his theme song.
* [[My Friends and Zoidberg|Zoidberg]] from ''[[Futurama]]'' is the perfect example. On the show he is often literally told that he is hated by the cast. Course, it's hard not to sometimes, seeing as he's an incompetent doctor whose patients often end up dismembered or worse, not to mention that he smells like someone who eats garbage, because he does. However many fans love the character of Zoidberg.
{{quote|'''Fry''': They sure hate Dr. Zoidberg.
'''Bender''': Pft. Posers! I was hating Zoidberg before it was cool. }}
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* ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' cannot get a girl on his home show, but there are plenty of chicks that would like to handle his bod in [[Real Life]].
* On ''[[KaBlam!]]'', Henry is pretty much the planet's punching bag. But of course, most of the fans want to pick him up and hug him.
* [[Beavis and
* ''[[Beast Wars]]'' example: As of the time of writing, he is at the bottom of this list, so once again he must ask, why universe hate Waspinator?
** Considering he just beat out [[Jive Turkey|Jazz]], [[Straw Vulcan|Shockwave]], and [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Erector]] for the fans' choice Transformers Hall of Fame induction, he seems to have it pretty good these days.
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