History Main / HeroWithBadPublicity

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer4000'': The Lamenters Chapter of Space Marines are often considered the most unquestioningly noble, heroic, and compassionate of all Chapters (most of whom range from AntiHero to straight VillainProtagonist). However, they're also considered "cursed" by most of their cousin Marines and the Imperium at large, due to being a product of the infamous "Cursed 13th" founding. A large number of Chapters formed in this founding were known to either fall to Chaos, or possess horrific mutations that forced them to be purged, though the Lamenters are neither. Worse still, the Lamenters had the ill luck to be on the wrong side of the Badab War, a civil war that they joined for legitimate and noble reasons (defiance of the [[ObstructiveBeauracrat High Lords of Terra]]), in which one of their ally chapters ''also'' fell to Chaos. These two associations have led to one of the most heroic Chapters being regarded as borderline-heretics and little better than traitors.

** [[HumansAreMorons People like]] [[BullyingADragon pissing off]] someone above their SuperWeight category.

** Missed payments on her HeroInsurance.

Usually serves as the grass-roots support for a SuperRegistrationAct. Can be a reason that HilaritySues. Especially ironic when it happens to the SlaveToPR. Think of it as a tamer situation than BewareTheSuperman, where the only people who are acting like the supers are the ones to be feared are individuals and not society. The permanent version of the UntrustingCommunity. When the hero's problems are evident only to intimates, is NoHeroToHisValet. A bad guy that people like is a VillainWithGoodPublicity. A character who can do no wrong in the public eye has HundredPercentHeroismRating. When the hero is pushed too far and concludes that being a hero for this undeserving society is up to no good, [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he might as well become evil...]]

* [[EverybodyHatesHades Hades/Pluto]] is frequently portrayed as a [[HijackedByJesus Hellenistic analogue to Satan]] in modern media. This portrayal of him is entirely unfair. He was certainly a {{Jerkass}} by modern standards, but [[JerkassGods most of the Hellenistic gods were]]. If the Hellenes had a Satan-type, it would have been Ate, the personification of ruin, folly, and destruction who causes... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ruin, folly and destruction]] ForTheEvulz. Of course, this would serve as an inversion for those who believe he is evil... To clarify, unlike Satan who was cast into Hell for defying {{God}}, Hades pretty much got the job of ruling the afterlife because his older brothers screwed him over. Zeus claimed the Earth and the Heavens, Poseidon the Sea, meaning the Underworld was all that was left for Hades. He didn't like the job, but he wasn't overly cruel about it (at least, not in comparison to some of the other gods). And since his realm included the entire afterlife, including the Gardens of Elysium, he was essentially the ruler of both Heaven and Hell.

* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' is this in [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 the first]] [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 two movies]], because he's [[FantasticRacism an ogre]] and most people are fully prepared to assume the worst of ogres. Not to forget that Shrek hand-made and put up posters warning people to beware of him because he derives pleasure from humans screaming then running away in fear of him. By ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' onwards, this has changed, and the public not only accepts him but views him as a local hero and role model. ''Forever After'' shows that Shrek misses getting to scare humans which he hasn't been able to do in a long time, leading to his signing a contract for a wish that triggered the plot of the fourth movie.

* Franchise/{{Shrek}} is this in [[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} the first]] [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 two movies]], because he's [[FantasticRacism an ogre]] and most people are fully prepared to assume the worst of ogres. Not to forget that Shrek hand-made and put up posters warning people to beware of him because he derives pleasure from humans screaming then running away in fear of him. By ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' onwards, this has changed, and the public not only accepts him but views him as a local hero and role model. ''Forever After'' shows that Shrek misses getting to scare humans which he hasn't been able to do in a long time, leading to his signing a contract for a wish that triggered the plot of the fourth movie.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', all supers have Bad Publicity after they're sued for causing damage while saving lives. The result is that using superpowers becomes illegal and they all have to go into the "[[SuperRegistrationAct Superhero Protection Program]]." By the end of the movie, this all ends after Mr. Incredible, his family, and Frozone save everyone from the Omnidroid and Syndrome.

** Saber, [[spoiler:AKA Arturia Pendragon (a [[GenderFlip gender-flipped]] Myth/KingArthur)]], [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as a boy]], [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask suppressed all emotion, and used very pragmatic methods in order to properly rule her country]]. Needless to say, her apparent coldness caused her subjects to resent her:

** He was a bad guy in the past.

** Popular opinion on Agatha herself is quite polarized. Many people see her as the rightful successor to her father's heroism—but there's also no shortage of people who believe she is every bit the monster her ancestors were. Klaus himself tries very hard to contain her before he can be assured of her character[[spoiler:—but he becomes convinced that Agatha is [[VillainousLineage a more typical Heterodyne]] during an unfortunate episode where Agatha's [[EvilMatriarch mother]] possesses her body.]] [[spoiler:Even after he learns about the possession, and even after Agatha's mind is rid of her mother's influence, he still considers the idea of a free, independent Heterodyne to be too big a threat to the peace of Europa to condone.]]

** General Ironwood is trying to save the world, but his stubborn belief that overwhelming military force is the go-to solution has led him to turn the Kingdom of Atlas into a police state, closing the borders and damaging his nation's foreign policy and local economy. Since they have no idea what Ironwood is fighting against, the people of Atlas see Ironwood as a delusional, paranoid dictator. Ironwood is aware of the negative sentiment, but refuses to budge on his stance. [[spoiler:At the end of Volume 7, his response to the news that Salem's about to attack Atlas in person, leads him to take a series of measures so extreme that the heroes finally oppose him fully. The volume ends with some of the heroes on the run from him, some arrested, and him transforming into an AntiVillain when he shoots his MoralityPet with [[KickTheMoralityPet intent to kill]].]] In the end, his status as this meant that he eventually lost the "hero" part of this trope because he'd grown so [[CantTakeCriticism used to ignoring criticism]] that he [[DeconstructedTrope couldn't understand when that criticism was warranted]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'': After Zira sets up her ambush, and Simba banishes him, every animal in the Pride Lands tries to attack Kovu to ensure he leaves their home.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease [[noreallife]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Ratatouille'': Despite his intelligence and culinary skill, Rémy is still a rat and is treated as vermin whenever humans see him. The only people who treat him as a chef are Linguini and (eventually) Colette and Ego.

** Popular opinion on Agatha herself is quite polarized. Many people see her as the rightful successor to her father's heroism—but there's also no shortage of people who believe she is every bit the monster her ancestors were. Klaus himself tries very hard to contain her before he can be assured of her character[[spoiler:—but he becomes convinced that Agatha is [[VillainousLineage a more typical Heterodyne]] during an unfortunate episode where Agatha's [[EvilMatriarch mother]] possesses her body. Even after he learns about the possession, and even after Agatha's mind is rid of her mother's influence, he still ]]

** World opinion on Agatha herself is quite polarized. Many people see her as the rightful successor to her father's heroism. But there is also no shortage of people that believe she is every bit the monster her ancestors were, and Klaus tries very hard to kill or contain her due to being one of them.

** The Wulfenbachs suffer a lot from this. OK, they are the despot of Europa and his heir, but Klaus is often accused of being the Other, betraying the Heterodynes, etc. He could probably use a good propaganda service which would only have to use some positive facts. Gil is also accused of having destroyed Dr. Beetle's lab for no reason (well, actually, he just send a bomb back to the thrower, saving not only his life but an innocent assistant as well). [[spoiler:After the Wulfenbachs' fall during the TimeSkip, Europa is in chaos again and quite a few people now think of their rule as a "golden age".]]

'''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' [[noreallife]]

** General Ironwood is trying to save the world, but his stubborn belief that overwhelming military force is the go-to solution has led him to turn the Kingdom of Atlas into a police state, closing the borders and damaging his nation's foreign policy and local economy. Since they have no idea what Ironwood is fighting against, the people of Atlas see Ironwood as a delusional, paranoid dictator. Ironwood is aware of the negative sentiment, but refuses to budge on his stance. [[spoiler:At the end of Volume 7, his response to the news that Salem's about to attack Atlas in person, leads him to take a series of measures so extreme that the heroes finally oppose him fully. The volume ends with some of the heroes on the run from him, some arrested, and him transforming into a HeroAntagonist when he shoots his MoralityPet with [[KickTheMoralityPet intent to kill]].]]

** People like [[BullyingADragon pissing off]] someone above their SuperWeight category.

** [[BadPowersGoodPeople His powers are harmful/"bad" by nature]].

** [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero He's an unapologetic bigot.]]