What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Difference between revisions

If the character in question is far more badass than the fandom gives them credit for, they may well be [[Underestimating Badassery]]. In rare cases, the fandom know that a character is badass, but dislikes them all the same, either because the character isn't "badass enough" or because they are badass for reasons other than, for example, fighting ability. A quick way to test this is to think about what a character actually does in fiction, and wait to see if any [[Fridge Logic]] emerges.

 

 

This trope is possibly a consequence of [[I Just Want to Be Badass]]. The [[Wish Fulfillment]] aspect of fiction generally makes people want to see characters they identify with do things that are cool/heroic/manly (i.e. [[Badass]]), which allows them to experience Badassery via a proxy of themselves. When the audience is denied their [[Wish Fulfillment]], they may dislike it and displace that dislike onto a character. Generally, any character that isn't a nail chewing badass (and/or is capable of showing... *eugh* ''emotion'') will be instantly dismissed as a [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]] or [[Creator's Pet]].

* One of the key reasons some [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|Seto Kaiba]] fans find Yugi and his friends unlikable. (The other? [[Ron the Death Eater]])

** This trope also sums up the attitude to non-dueling main characters who are sometimes seen as useless or unneccessary in a world where [[Duels Decide Everything]].

** Thing is, Index can be [[Badass Adorable]] when she wants to. People just ignore that.

* If you follow an anime series in which the heroine is bullied or abused (specially by her classmates or her family) and doesn't resort to beating them up as a result... please think twice before reading the comments and/or reading about it on blogs. Mikan from ''[[Gakuen Alice]]'', Tohru from ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' and Nanako of ''[[Oniisama e...]]'' are specially hated by stupid watchers who blame ''them'' for the hardships they go through "because they're weak whores who don't fight back".

* Shouma Takakura from ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' gets potshots that range from mere affectionate jokes to straight-up bashing for not being as action-geared as his older brother Kanba. {{spoiler|Even more so after episode 19.}}

* Played with, and possibly subtly [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]] in ''[[Death Proof]]''. The initial group of women that run into Stuntman Mike are treated as annoying, [[Developing Doomed Characters|disposable types]] while the second group are the heroines we cheer for. No matter that the second group prove themselves to be irresponsible jackasses (such as abandoning one of their own to a seriously creepy possible rapist simply so they could whiz around in a car for a few hours); since they are indisputably [[Badass]], we like them more than the theoretically more sympathetic (but non-[[Badass]]) first group.

* Take any of [[Steven Seagal]]'s later movies; the most common complaint will be that he hardly does any real fighting anymore since he's gotten older and put on weight. As if the acting, writing, and production values wouldn't be terrible if he'd managed to stay as fast and fit as he was in his first few films. Though this is perhaps what inevitably happens when you build your entire early film career on the fact that you're a total badass.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* This happens a ''lot'' with Guinevere in the ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' fandom, with her portrayal caught in a quagmire of [[Die for Our Ship]], [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses]], and a [[Misaimed Fandom]] that believes Morgana is a great feminist icon. Where to start? On the surface, Guinevere is essentially portrayed as a [[Shrinking Violet]], a stark contrast to Morgana as a [[Spirited Young Lady]]. Morgana gets to do lots of cool things: [[Action Girl|sword-fight]], telekenetically throw people through the air, [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|stand up to King Uther]] and wear [[Gorgeous Period Dress|gorgeous costumes]]. Guinevere's role is to be Arthur's [[Love Interest]], Merlin's [[Black Best Friend]], and is often accused of being an [[Extreme Doormat]].

** However, this is a ''huge'' simplification of each woman's characterization and [[Character Arc]]: namely that Morgana's [[Sliding Down the Slippery Slope|fall into evil]] was marked by her [[It's All About Me]] attitude in which she ranks her own grievances and pain against the needs of others and begins a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] against not just Uther, but ''everyone'', including innocent people. In contrast, Guinevere (who is also deeply wronged by Uther when he has her innocent father executed) rises above her inner turmoil and explicitly refuses wallow in hate. Many fans seem to have ''completely'' missed the juxtapositioning of Guinevere's declaration that she would never seek vengeance against Uther because: "that would make me just like him" with the recent observations by ''several'' characters that Morgana is now no different from Uther. It also fails to take into account the fact that Morgana is quite often a [[Faux Action Girl]], with plans that are ill-thought out and fail ''constantly'', whereas Guinevere's attempts at proactivity have a far higher success rate (retrieving the morteus flower from the dungeon, arguing on behalf of the women in Ealdor, escaping Helios's men by submerging herself in the river). Though Guinevere has played the [[Damsel in Distress]] a few times, Morgana has been in similar situations just as often ([[Dude in Distress|as have all the male characters]]) and is extremely [[Weak-Willed]] given the consistency [[Hypnotize the Princess|with which she is placed under enchantments]]. Guinevere, on the other hand, has the ''unprecedented'' move of removing an object of enchantment from her body of her own free will (and thus breaking the spell she was under).

{{quote|''Merlin fandom seems to believe that Morgana’s treacherous magical girl ass is a more empowering role model for women than Guinevere’s steady, quiet strength''.}}