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What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.WhatMeasureIsANonBadass 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.WhatMeasureIsANonBadass, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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Compare [[Real Women Don't Wear Dresses]], [[A Real Man Is a Killer]].
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 [[
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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** Poland's [[Keet]] behavior and penchant for ponies and skirts makes him ''hated'' in some circles. Him being one of the few nations who will fearlessly stand up to [[Psychopathic Manchild|Russia]] will be conveniently ignored by them.
** In an odd case of this, fans of this kind don't hate Greece for being sleepy and laidback; they just want him to be with Turkey all the time because Turkey is the [[Berserk Button|only thing]] that causes him to lose his calm, easygoing nature and hence makes him a [[Hot Blooded]] [[Tsundere]] who's "stronger" and "cooler" than the calm [[Nice Guy]] he is with <s>Japan</s> everyone who's not Turkey. Some of these fans even seem to believe that Greece [[The Philosopher|waxing philosophical]], [[Kindhearted Cat Lover|taking care of numerous cats]], and [[Chivalrous Pervert|being affectionate and respectful toward Japan]] makes him a "[[Flat Character|personality-devoid]] [[Shallow Love Interest]]" because apparently he can't be a strong or complex character if he isn't constantly angry, fight-happy, short-tempered, or otherwise "manly" like he is with Turkey.
** Lithuania gets this sometimes, due to his [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] and [[Woobie]] tendencies...as with Poland, the fact that he definitely has shades of [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], and that it's the fandom itself that [[Wimpification|wimpifies]] him, tends to go ignored.
* A couple of fans had this complaint about Canute in ''[[Vinland Saga]]''. Many hoped he'd be killed off eventually. [[Foregone Conclusion|Which is moronic, since he is a historical figure that lived to be quite old, and thus the only guaranteed survivor amongst the heroes.]]
** There is a ''very'' good chance that people who are complaining [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_the_Great don't even know he's a real person.]
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* Many parts of the ''[[Naruto]]'' [[Fan Dumb]] utterly embody this attitude as applied to pretty much ''any'' character: any time a character appears to be something less than a [[Badass]] who accomplishes everything without any effort whatsoever, you have hoards of people saying how they must suck as a character because they are "weak". In the rare occasions where they don't, they'll bitch that the writer sucks for not making them "badass enough" or turning them into [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]].
** Sakura is the most outstanding example, in both part 1 and 2. In part 1 she was rather useless and bossy. Not a good combination. Realizing this, she [[Took a Level In Badass|Takes A Level In Badass]] to catch up. What most people fail to realize is that, although she did get trained in combat, she was mostly trained as a [[The Medic|Medic]], a very important role. Some of this derivates from the fact that she's still bossy towards Naruto and her using of her super-strength to punish him over the stupidest reasons, even though this greatly lessened too after the time skip.
** Uzumaki Naruto, due to a combination of this trope and [[Moral Dissonance]] spanning from his upgraded role as [[The Messiah]], started suffering from this sometime around chapter 450. Which is funny considering that 10 chapters previously, he beat {{spoiler|Pain, who was ''very'' powerful}}, and in his next fight he {{spoiler|[[Curb Stomp Battle|stomps]] the [[Eldritch Abomination|Nine-Tailed Fox]]}}. He hasn't lost any fighting power; he's just become a [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Crouching Messiah, Hidden Badass]].
* Orihime of ''[[Bleach]]'' gets a similar treatment, being bashed for being [[The Medic]] and a largely non-combatant. Though this likely stems partially from the fact that her powers are much more amazing and she isn't using them to her full potential, and probably more so [[Die for Our Ship]] related reasons.
* This ''somehow'' happened in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''. Many of Kamina's fanboys (which is about 90 percent of the people that watched the show), refuse to acknowledge Simon as the main character, simply because, according to them, he's not as badass as Kamina... despite the fact that the show made it clear that Simon far surpassed Kamina by the end of the show, and without Simon's help, Kamina wouldn't have made it as far as he did. Hell, in the {{spoiler|[[Lotus Eater Machine]], ''Kamina himself'' admits that Simon has surpassed him.}} [[Misaimed Fandom]] at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.
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* This trope is behind much of the [[Fan Dumb]] dislike of characters (especially the women) in George R.R. Martin's ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. Badass characters can get away with murder, while characters who are decidedly not, such as twelve-year old Sansa, incite a negative fan reaction from the moronic fanboys.
** And the misogynistic fangirls who believe that [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|it's anti-feminist to be girly and like it.]]
** Although a lot of people who don't like Sansa cite [[Wide Eyed Idealism]] and [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] as the reason why her "uselessness" is such a problem. In spite of her general inaction, she still managed to be [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] for many of them her once she wised up and became more worldly, without needing to take badass actions.
* ''[[Fight Club]]'' is supposed to be a deconstruction of this. ''[[Misaimed Fandom|Supposed]] [[Do Not Do This Cool Thing|to be]]''. The movie less so.
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* This often happens on ''[[Survivor]]'' where people make it to the finals but are told they're not badass by the jury despite that the game's Slogan is "Outwit, Outplay", and "'''Outlast'''". They tend to forget that ''last'' "O"...
** Natalie White was considered this on ''[[Survivor]] Samoa'', particularly by her aggressive competitors who were with her in the last tribal council. Then jury-member Erik stands up and delivers a speech in which he points out that since she's still in the game, she must be doing ''something'' right, and furthermore, did it in a way that didn't sacrifice her integrity. Meanwhile, [[Out of Focus|Mick]] claimed to deserve votes (Natalie didn't), while Russell Hantz just sociopathically bullied his way through the game and finished by boasting "These two suck - Aren't I awesome?" to the jury. This speech may well have contributed to her 7-2-0 win. Much of a [[Base Breaker]] as it was, compared to the ''following'' season, this would be ''nothing.''
** Sandra Diaz-Twine in ''Heroes vs. Villains'' had this by the [[Base Breaker]] fans as well as Russell Hantz himself. Russell claims that Sandra being able to win ''twice'' is somehow proof that the game's rules are flawed, because she would be ''terrible'' at physical challenges and have ''zero'' personal immunities under her belt, yet was good enough with people to know what was up, and was able to play the lesser of three evils. ("I hate Russell, too.") Meanwhile, Parvati already had a pretty loyal fan base and played a game more people approved of, as opposed to Sandra who [[Xanatos Speed Chess|went with the flow]]. Some Sandra supporters even pointed out that Sandra ''had'' more allies in the jury (including the entire Heroes tribe) and [[What an Idiot!|Russell should have considered that]] -- Parvati ''did'' realize this and [[Cassandra Truth|tried to get Russell to see this too]], but he kept on insisting that Sandra had no chance of winning... just like he insisted that Natalie had no chance of winning in ''Samoa''. Cue the [[Humiliation Conga]].
** Becky likely received no votes because of the final four tie-breaker where she and Sundra took two hours to make fire. Never mind that she ''and'' Sundra helped Yul and Ozzie go on a chain of immunity wins when the mutiny reduced their tribe to four.
** In fact, the ''Survivor'' players accused of being this are [[Double Standard|almost always female]]. Matthew, Rupert, Bob, and Fabio were criticized by some for their lack of strategic play compared to others, but not ''nearly'' as much as the above listed females were.
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* Dr. Keller suffered from this a bit in ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''. While the other doctors in the show are also pretty non-action-oriented, Keller's fragility, especially when contrasted with Teyla's hardy survival instincts in the episode "Missing", do make her a boring character for some. To be fair, she isn't a soldier, but Rodney's been pretty badass since his big sacrifice in the second episode, so Keller does look pretty weak by comparison.
* This happens a ''lot'' with Guinevere in the ''[[Merlin (TV)|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 a classic example of style over substance - in this case, Guinevere's decency, patience and kind heart is no match for Morgana's glamourous life-style. As [http://www.racialicious.com/2011/10/18/fandom-and-its-hatred-of-black-women-characters/ this] article puts it:
{{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''.}}
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* Eight words: [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway]]?
** Subverted with [[Heart Is an Awesome Power]].
* [[Non
* This is one of the reasons why the tropes [[Badass]] and [[Jerkass]] are often synonymous with each other on [[This Very Wiki]].
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** Don't forget how [[Action Girl]] and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Proud Warrior Race Girl]] Lyndis aka Lyn is used as pretty much THE yardstick by which a lot of FE females are measured. I.e., lead female Eirika from ''[[Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones (Video Game)|Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones]]'' is often compared disfavorably to Lyn, and "weaker" females like Ninian, Florina or Nino are hotly bashed for "not being strong women" like Lyn is.
** The aforementioned Eirika is often put under the microscope, nitpicked and/or downright bashed for being a sensitive Nice Girl aside of [[The Messiah]] and the [[Action Girl]], with some even openly ''denying that both she and Ephraim are the protagonists of the game''... saying Ephraim is the only lead. WTF.
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2]]'''s Raiden got a lot of flak from fanboys, mostly for being a [[Replacement Scrappy]] for Solid Snake, but attributed to him being a "weak, [[Bishonen|overly-feminine]] character" (despite the fact that he fought well, ''taking down several Metal Gears, killing the [[Big Bad]]'', and did far better than most people could have done in his [[Gambit Pileup|profoundly shitty situation]], leaving with renewed purpose, the [["Well Done, Son" Guy|respect]] of his mentor, a renewed relationship with the woman he loved, and with the child of a castmate still alive). ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4]]'' reinvented him to be a cyborg ninja, and these days, he's a lot more popular - even though his ninja self spent half of the game dying slowly of kidney failure and the other half whining about his awful situation (something which in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' he would have tried to deal with) and taking orders from a little girl. It just goes to show how shallow this trope (and/or people's standards of Badassery) is; Raiden was judged pathetic because of his [[White
** Also an example of [[Misaimed Fandom]]. Metal Gear Solid 2 revolved around the idea of Raiden rejecting puppetry and not being pigeon-holed into the role of Solid Snake in favor of finding his own identity. He kinda-sorta succeeded, and he had a reasonably hopeful ending. Come Metal Gear Solid 4, and Raiden has [[Shaggy Dog Story|been forced into the role of Cyborg Ninja]]. Fanboys think this is awesome, when in the context of the series it is decidedly not.
* The title character of the ''[[Mega Man X]]'' series gets this a lot. His actual viewpoint (except for in the seventh game) is that he'd rather not fight, but does because he feels he has to. But because he wishes he didn't have to go to war, he's usually portrayed as a pansy and/or gay (though the latter has more to do with the [[Ho Yay]] between him and Zero). Zero, by contrast, is a [[Badass]] killbot with a laser sword, who enjoys [[Kicking Ass and Taking Names]], and is thus ''much'' more popular.
** Fans also like to completely ignore the fact that once X has all his upgrades and armors, he's basically an unstoppable [[One
*** It's truly amazing how many people can dismiss him technically beating Zero in X5, while surrounded by a virus that weakens him and renders Zero [[Nigh Invulnerable]], and only succumbs to its effects ''after'' beating the death machine into the ground.
** But it cuts both ways. X is one of the more popular protagonists in part because he's considered to be farther up the badass scale than Rock and the others. [[Power Levels]] and Sigma's sometime-[[Magnificent Bastard]] status have something to do with it.
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