History Main / JerkSue

* Played Straight in the ''Baldur's Gate'' series by Edwin Odesseiron. While a complete jerkass to the Protagonist and every NPC he interacts with, he is easily the most powerful character- in addition to being a mage, which are already very powerful in the setting, he has a super special ''Vancian Magic'' that gives him more spells than a player could ever hope to have.

* An accusation often levelled at Taiga Aisaka from ToraDora, due to her initial utter bitchiness coupled with more than one KarmaHoudini.

** Even worst, she's setting a ''horrible example'' to young girls: if you have a baby as a teenager, you too can get whatever you want without problems. She's unrealistic, as anyone doubts your aveage teenage mother gets to stay with her upper-middle class family, get everyone else to take care of her baby, and make other stupid decisions on a whim (like going to New York for some music school) without any reprocutions.

** Also, his final defeat in the Sinnoh League Tournament still fails to really affect him at all. After he loses, he just smirks smugly as Shinfernape tries to challenge him directly, and walks away from the tournament acting just as cold-hearted as before, with little indication that he'll change his ways. And Ash ''still'' considers him a friend, with Cynthia and everyone else [[ShillingTheWesley complimenting him on being a powerful trainer.]] KarmaHoudini, indeed.

** On the topic of Sonic, a few female characters in the Archie series are criticized of having sheds of JerkSue behavior (Princess Sally Acorn due to her condescending attitude and occasional emotional outbursts leveled out to her friends, especially Sonic, and Julie-Su, an extremely hot tempered ActionGirl with a tendacy to use DesignatedVillain Vector as a punching bag). Granted however both cases have been toned down slightly in later stories, Sally herself has at least admited she can treat her friends better, while Julie-Su's temper has been more PlayedForLaughs at [[ButtMonkey her own expense]].

** Also, his final defeat in the Sinnoh League Tournament still fails to really affect him at all. After he loses, he just smirks smugly as Shinfernape tries to challenge him directly, and walks away from the tournament acting just as cold-hearted as before, with little indication that he'll change his ways. And Ash ''still'' considers him a friend, with Cynthia and everyone else [[ShillingTheWesley complimenting him on being a powerful trainer.]]

* Needless to say ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': With a personality so overbearing, carrying a chip on her shoulder wasn't the worst of her problems. Katara may not have started off as badly when the cartoon began, but by the time the series reached a conclusion a majority of fans admit this character's the type who can only be loved or hated (neutrality? what's that?). The reason for it begins with this trope. Flying off the handle, snide, cruel remarks, and no attitude adjustments were met with little to no consequence from anyone--it seemed as though the writers had to prove every action and wordy-speech was justified as long as it came from Katara.

* Needless to say ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': With a personality so overbearing, carrying a chip on her shoulder wasn't the worst of her problems. Katara may not have started off as badly when the cartoon began, but by the time the series reached a conclusion a majority of fans admit this character is the type that can only be loved or hated (no in-between!). The reason for it begins with this trope. Flying off the handle, snide, cruel remarks, and no attitude adjustments were met with little to no consequence from anyone--it seemed as though the writers had to prove every action and wordy speech was justified so long as it was Katara.

* Needless to say ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': With a personality so overbearing, carrying a chip on her shoulder wasn't the worst of her problems. Katara may not have started off badly when the cartoon began, but by the time the series reached a conclusion a majority of fans admit this character is the type that can only be loved or hated (no in-between!). The reason for it begins with this trope. Flying off the handle, snide, cruel remarks, and no attitude adjustments were met with little to no consequence from anyone--it seemed as though the writers had to prove she was right no matter the cost.

* Almost self-explanatory {{''AvatarTheLastAirbender''}}: With a personality so overbearing, carrying a chip on her shoulder wasn't the worst of her problems. Katara may not have started off badly when the cartoon began, but by the time the series reached a conclusion a majority of fans admit this character is the type that can only be loved or hated (no in-between!). The reason for it begins with this trope. Flying off the handle, snide, cruel remarks, and no attitude adjustments were met with little to no consequence from anyone--it seemed as though the writers had to prove she was right no matter the cost.

** Katara and Toph from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender''

* Self-evident to a tee, from {{Avatar: The Last Airbender}}: Katara may not have started off badly when the cartoon began, but by the time the series reached a conclusion a majority of fans admit this character is the type that can only be loved or hated (no in-between!). The reason for it begins with this trope. Flying off the handle, snide, cruel remarks, and no attitude adjustments were met with little to no consequence from anyone--it seemed as though the writers had to prove she was right no matter the cost.

* Hit-Girl from the film Kickass. She spends the majority of the film committing brutal murders, which despite the influence of her crazy father she actually seems to ENJOY (laughing and smiling as she kills a begging man in a car-crusher then mocking him after his death, for example). Throughout the whole film she is treated as a poor little lost soul, and her massive killing spree towards the end is portrayed as a good, just thing to do.
** Actually, no; the murder and mayhem in the film is all portrayed as neither really good nor bad, just how people really act. Her steamrolling the mobsters at the end is given the same neutral portrayal as D'amico gunning down a guy in a Kick-Ass costume.

* Parodied with Zapp Brannigan in ''{{Futurama}}''. Everyone besides the main cast thinks that Brannigan is a brilliant tactician and noble, virtuous hero. This, in spite of the fact that he in fact causes far, far more trouble than he takes care of (which he usually doesn't anyway). Conversely, the heroes, who actually save the day and are able to clearly see Zapp for the incompetant jerk that he is, are usually ignored and/or belittled, though it doesn't usually matter much to them anyway.

* Parodied with Zapp Brannigan in ''{{Futurama}}''. Everyone besides the main cast thinks that Brannigan is a brilliant tactician and noble, virtuous hero. This, in spite of the fact that he in fact causes far, far more trouble than he takes care of (which he usually doesn't anyway). Conversely, the heroes, who actually save the day and are able to clearly see Zapp from the imcompetant jerk that he is, are usually ignored and/or belittled, though it doesn't usually matter much to them anyway.

->''"Seriously, Mary Sue, you worry me. You do realize that there is a difference - a very BIG difference - between a cool, collected, liberated woman and a violent, self-aggrandizing bitch? I can't get over how many of you girls think that physically abusing men for no reason other than you're annoyed with them makes you look 'cool'. It doesn't. You do realize that punching men for talking to you does not make you look feisty and independent, it makes you look dangerously unhinged and would not serve to endear you to anyone, still less the man you've just punched?''"
-->-- From [[http://community.livejournal.com/fanficrants/3496750.html this rant]]

The basis of this trope is the tendency of many DarkerAndEdgier writers to create a bitter, ill-spirited, confrontational, or downright mean character [[JerkAssDissonance and still play them up as an ideal person,]] or [[KarmaHoudini just get away with being a bullying jerkass.]] The other characters tolerate the antics (which can range from petty to sociopathic), allowing him/her to walk all over them and talking them up in their conversations with each other. Common synonyms include "strong", "tough", and "rugged" while common topics include how much better they've made their lives through their "{{tough love}}" or whatever FreudianExcuse supposedly justifies their behavior. It's often an unsuccessful or inept attempt to play on JerkassDissonance.

[[folder: FanWork Examples]]

* Lydia [=MacGreggor=] of Heroine of the Valley's ''[[FanFic/TheSailorRainbowSeries Sailor Rainbow]]'' series, despite having a very girly title for a {{magical girl}}, has a quite nasty and easily provoked temper. She'll even go so far as to threaten to beat up her ''friends'' if they don't agree with her. Around Fiore or Seamus Finnigan, however, she is a sweetie and, in Fiore's case, a weepy mess when she's away from him. Nor does she have any problems getting guys to go out with her. This goes along with the fact that she is one big [[{{Oireland}} Irish stereotype.]]

* The long-winded ''WorldOfWarcraft'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5567629/1/Stand_of_the_Exiles Stand of the Exiles]]'' stars Anchorite Ranith—draenei shadow priestess, [[JerkAss abrasive]], {{wangst}}y {{tsundere}}, and all-around [[CursedWithAwesome sufferer of the curse of awesome]]—and her PurityStu [[KnightInShiningArmor paladin]] snugglebunny. ([[http://community.livejournal.com/warcraftsues/69041.html It's sporked in some detail here.]])

* Poor, poor Canada from AxisPowersHetalia. If he's not derailed by fangirls into a [[SympatheticSue a weepy, martyrized, wangsty, whiny moeblob]], he becomes a BadAss DeadpanSnarker MartyStu who bitches out everyone else every other line for overlooking him until they've realized how much better he is from [[RonTheDeathEater that unfairly more popular brother of his, named America.]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Film]]

** Justified in ''HighPlainsDrifter'' by the fact that [[spoiler:he's a vengeful spirit returned to get back at the villagers for his murder.]]

* The main character in ''{{Paparazzi}}''. He goes all UnstoppableRage after [[spoiler:his adorable baby son is in a ConvenientComa after an accident caused by Mean Mean Ultra Amoral {{Paparazzi}} assholes. He kills three of them and frames the Boss for the crimes, and gets away with it.]] Then again, the movie ''is'' produced by ''MelGibson''.

* Ash's personality (d)evolves into something reminiscent of a Jerk Sue in the film ''ArmyOfDarkness'', though the villagers' royal ass-kissing toward him is less attributed to his assertive attitude and more so to the fact that he may be the prophesied "Hero from the Sky." They have no problem voicing that they think him to be a coward and an idiot. Of course, Ash has been [[{{Understatement}} under a lot of stress lately.]]

[[folder: Literature]]

* The titular character from ''[[TheInheritanceCycle Eragon]]''. Between [[CainAndAbel the way he treats Murtagh]], who had been magically bound to serve the DesignatedVillain against his will, and [[MindRape what he]] [[MoralEventHorizon does to]] [[DesignatedHero Sloan]], who had only been trying to protect his daughter, it's hard to see Eragon as anything but a colossal JerkAss. And yet we are [[WallBanger supposed to root for]] [[DesignatedHero him]] when he acts... well, ''evil.''[[SubjectiveTropes This is]] [[YourMileageMayVary debatable though.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* [[{{Firefly}} Jayne Cobb]] is a good deconstruction of this trope. He's badass, has lots of guns, and is thought of as a hero on at least 1 planet. However, he accidentally got that status, is hated by some of the crew and distrusted by all of the crew, is almost spaced by Mal, and is the easiest to [[{{Squick}} squick out.]]

** Let's not forget that she's got a huge, ridiculously overblown hatred against those who have more money than she does. Since she's a [[SelfMadeMan Self Made Strong Woman]], Lu is ''horrible'' towards rich people, whether they're OMG EBUL or not. In fact, [[spoiler: when she hooked up with another SelfMadeMan, she whined and threw endless tantrums because at some point he was worried about his bankruptcy (which would, yanno, ''ruin the hard work of his whole life'') while she was pregnant, to the point of threatening with leaving and taking their future baby with her because he wasn't in the mental state to kiss her ass. Yeah, it's valid to be worried and moody when you're pregnant, but that's just being a self-centered ''bitch''.]]

[[folder: Music Video]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

** One arc subverts this, with his ''friends'' faking his handwriting in his schedule book, causing him to run around to incredibly foolish places looking for sex. The ending sees him finally see one of his schemes fall apart spectacularly, when [[spoiler: he tells a disgusting joke to 2 lesbians and 2 female police officers -- while he was in a fake police uniform as part of a XanatosGambit to get said lesbians to sleep with him -- which causes them to throw him in jail.]] Of course, since he's a MartyStu, he was minutes away from getting away with sleeping with ALL of them if he hadn't been [[TooDumbToLive stupid enough to ruin the mood.]]

** She's a Sue all right, but "Jerk" is a stretch. Normally she's too introverted to misbehave; the one time she really acts like an asshole is late in the "Hob" story-arc, when she becomes convinced she's the Machine Messiah or something. [[spoiler:She's ''right'', but she also gets what's coming to her for her behavior.]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Courtney from ''TotalDramaIsland,'' or more specifically its second season, ''Total Drama Action'' thanks to massive [[TookALevelInJerkass taking levels in jerkass]]. While she had been pushy and ambitious before, in TDA [[CharacterDerailment she became horrible]], and her SlapSlapKiss romance with Duncan devolved into something close to [[AbuseIsOkayWhenItIsFemaleOnMale abuse]]. And she's suddenly good at ''everything,'' winning nearly every challenge. It got so bad, she made Heather look nice! Needless to say, it's another reason why most fans [[SeasonalRot did not care for the second season at all.]]

[[folder: Meta]]

* Parodied with Zapp Brannigan in ''{{Futurama}}''. Everyone besides the main cast thinks that Brannigan is a brilliant tactician and noble, virtuous hero. This, in spite of the fact that he in fact causes far, far more trouble than he takes care of (which he usually doesn't anyway). Conversely, the heroes, who actually save the day, are usually ignored and/or belittled, though it doesn't usually matter much to them anyway.

* Cody Martin from ''[[TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody Suite Life On Deck]]'' became one over the course of Season 2. Originally he was kinder and much more sympathetic than his brother [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Zack]], but Cody began to take several [[TookALevelInJerkass levels in jerkass]], became an InsufferableGenius and an [[StayInTheKitchen arrogant sexist]] to his girlfriend Bailey. Over the course of the season the two would have [[MasochismTango multiple fights]] (and almost every time it was over his own insecurities or arrogance) and Bailey would [[EasilyForgiven instantly forgive him]] because others would tell her ''[[ShillingTheWesley "he's a catch."]]''

* Even before Michelle [=McCool=]'s FaceHeelTurn she acted pretty bitchy, even as a face. In particular, when Kristal Marshall was marrying [=SmackDown!=] General Manager Theodore Long and announced to [=McCool=] and Torrie Wilson that she was going to appoint them as bridesmaids at her wedding. Then Victoria happened along and made it clear that she wanted to be a bridesmaid, too. The segment called for Victoria's character to act embarrassingly obnoxious, and it only got worse when [=McCool=] opened her mouth and said that ''nobody'' wanted Victoria as a bridesmaid. This led to a short feud between Victoria and Michelle, which Michelle won. It is true that Victoria was a DesignatedVillain and had done pretty awful things to other Divas in the past, but Michelle [=McCool=]'s comments were still cruel and undoubtedly made a lot of viewers want to punch her in the mouth.

*** On the other hand, Brian's ButtMonkey status means he is far more likely to be punished for callous acts he committed ([[KafkaKomedy or even didn't]]). This was perhaps enthasised best when it is Lois that calls him out on it ([[HypocriticalHumor such as obnoxiously mocking him for dating a complete moron]]).

** There's also Brian himself, who due to being an AuthorAvatar of Seth MacFarlane, treats anybody who disagrees with him as retarded and evil.