History Main / TeachersUnfavoriteStudent

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Chronos sensei/Dr. Crowler hates the red students since they have the lowest grades in the academy. The protagonist Judai/Jaden Yuki however, is his least favorite student even before Jaden was officially enrolled. In the dub, he at first refuses to allow Jaden an entrance exam duel just for being late (in the Japanese version, he has some [[JerkassHasAPoint minor justification upon hearing Jaden's placement on the written exam was #110, meaning if Jaden did get enrolled he would be an aforementioned red student]]). When he does duel Jaden, Crowler rigs it by using his personal deck in lieu of a test deck. After losing to Jaden, he spends the early episodes trying various methods to get Jaden expelled or at least embarrass him. The Japanese version mostly drops this once the Shadow Riders come along.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Exaggerated with Sydney Poindexter, a legendary BullyMagnet from Casper High. He was so hated, by both student and teacher alike, that [[ArtisticLicenseEducation the principal proclaimed that in order for students to graduate, it was mandatory that they bullied Sydney]].

Contrast DestructionEqualsOffSwitch.

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/AmericanGirlsCollection https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_02_17_at_84733_pm.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:She's not the apple of her teacher's eye.]]

->''"In all my years of teaching, only one student has ever failed my class."''
-->--'''Mrs. Puff''' about [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob]] himself, ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

Poor Bob dreads waking up every morning and going to school. Is it the bullies? Is it the mountains of homework? Or the FoulCafeteriaFood? Nope, worse than all of those put together--his new homeroom teacher Mrs. Alice has it out for him personally, and no one else. She watches him at all times for any signs of causing trouble, always asks him the hardest questions (and mocks him when he doesn't answer them correctly), never lets him go to the bathroom, always looks for excuses to give him detention, and seems to take sadistic pleasure in writing [[FMinusMinus big, fat, red F's]] on all his tests.

There are numerous reasons why a teacher may take issue with a particular student (and different reasons may swing the audience's sympathy more toward one party or the other):
* The student is very BookDumb and frustrating to teach, refuses to do their work, makes a lot of mistakes, or is a big troublemaker or [[ClassClown prankster]].
* The student is creative and imaginative, but they have a stern, boring, by-the-book teacher who doesn't appreciate those qualities (at best) or wants to stamp them out (at worst).
* The student is related to someone else the teacher dislikes. (Lord help the former if their teacher had a bad experience with their older sibling in a previous year.)
* The teacher is prejudiced against a particular demographic, which the student happens to be part of.
* The student openly disagrees with the teacher's views, and the teacher doesn't like their authority being challenged.
* The student is smarter than the teacher (possibly to the point of being an InsufferableGenius), which makes the latter feel insecure.
* Or none of the above: the teacher is just a plain old {{Jerkass}}, and a single student is the target of their ire due to pure bad luck.

And just to rub things in, this teacher's favorite student is probably the rival or bully of the disliked student (especially if they're TheHero), who naturally takes advantage of their position to get away with tormenting the disliked student even more.

In the most extreme examples, the teacher may actively attempt to get their least favorite student expelled from the school by framing them for causing trouble or watching them like a hawk for screwups so they have reason to declare that the student is nothing but a future delinquent and criminal.

The student is probably a ButtMonkey, the teacher is likely to be a SadistTeacher, SternTeacher, EvilTeacher, CynicalMentor, and/or a JerkassToOne (though they [[JerkassHasAPoint may have a point if the student is particularly rude or disruptive]]), and the school they work for is likely to be a SuckySchool, DustbinSchool, AssimilationAcademy, or BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. Compare the BosssUnfavoriteEmployee. See also TeachersPet, which isn't necessarily the direct inversion of the trope, but such a character is often the teacher's favorite, due to sucking up to the teacher and trying to be an ideal student. If the teacher hates the student because of something their parent or older sibling did, it can veer into MisplacedRetribution.

Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease While many of us can remember being at odds with our least favorite teachers, this isn't the place to call them out.
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Chronos sensei/Dr. Crowler hates the red students since they have the lowest grades in the academy. The protagonist Judai/Jaden Yuki however, is his least favorite student even before Jaden was officially enrolled. In the dub, he at first refuses to allow Jaden an entrance exam duel just for being late (in the Japanese version, he has some [[JerkassHasAPoint minor justification upon hearing Jaden's placement on the written exam was #110, meaning if Jaden did get enrolled he would be an aforementioned red student]]). When he does duel Jaden, Crowler rigs it by using his personal deck in lieu of a test deck. After losing to Jaden, he spends the early episodes trying various methods to get Jaden expelled or at least embarrass him. The Japanese version mostly drops this once the Shadow Riders come along.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/BigNate'': While [[JerkassHasAPoint Mrs. Godfrey may have a point to dislike Nate's inability to apply himself and general disrespect towards her]], she can be quite harsh towards him ([[PetTheDog though she does have moments where she does something on his behalf]]). She is shown to be quite happy when he's assigned to another teacher during their temporary visit to Jefferson Middle School. [[AdaptationalVillainy This particular trait of hers was flanderized in the cartoon]].
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Miss Wormwood, the one of Calvin's teachers we most often see, seems to have it in for Calvin, even going as far as to warn a substitute teacher about him. [[JustifiedTrope However]], Calvin ''is'' often disruptive and by his own admission not exactly the most attentive student. On the few occasions Calvin is actually motivated to try to do something or excels, Miss Wormwood is fully willing to praise and congratulate him.
* ''ComicStrip/PugadBaboy'': Ms. Eusebia Nobatos regarded Paltik as a very troublesome student because she ends up being the [[ButtMonkey target of his pranks]]. Though it's also because she's not good-looking and Paltik and his friends keep making fun of her appearance, much to her chagrin.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'': One of Jeremy's teachers, Ms. Butcher, has it out for him. She gave both Hector and Jeremy 97% on a test, but Hector's was an A and Jeremy's a C-. And she [[CouldntFindAPen wrote Jeremy's grade in blood]]. When Jeremy's dad asks him if he really thinks she spends all her time thinking of ways to make his life miserable, there's a DescriptionCut of Ms. Butcher writing a list entitled "Ways to make Jeremy Duncan's life miserable".
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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/ArchieComics'': Ms. Grundy occasionally implies that she dislikes Archie more than her other students due to the shenanigans he gets into. In one comic, he says it would be great if students could pick their teachers, and she responds that it would be even better if teachers could choose their students.
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[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'': Part of the main character Julia's backstory involves her having had a teacher who believed Julia's parents were [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery using her autism as an excuse not to discipline her properly]] and therefore refused to make allowances for Julia's needs, openly referring to her as a "trouble-maker". Things came to a head when this teacher falsely accused Julia of letting several Pokémon loose and physically restrained her, causing her to become hysterical and develop an intense dislike of Pokémon battles, though she later overcomes this. The teacher was subsequently fired and prosecuted for child cruelty, and Julia was transferred to another school.
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[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': Dean Wormer, as a DeanBitterman, hates the students of the Delta House fraternity to an extreme and when he gets the chance to kick them out, he also reports them to the Army as being now draft-worthy (which in a movie taking place in TheSixties means [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar almost certain death]]). The plot is an UnbuiltTrope of WackyFratboyHijinx films, however, and [[VillainHasAPoint Wormer does has a point to expel them]] because Delta House is disruptive and destructive to a degree that any realistic college authority would just not allow existing within the campus.
-->'''Dean Wormer:''' (''to "Flounder" Dorfman'') Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
* ''Film/FreakyFriday2003'': Anna is convinced that her English teacher, Mr. Elton Bates, hates her for no reason. Her mom Tess is unconvinced--until the FreakyFridayFlip happens and she sees firsthand that Mr. Bates is extremely lenient with all the other students but overly strict with Anna, and even outright lies about Anna's answers being incorrect as an excuse to fail her. Tess-in-Anna's-body finally recognizes Elton Bates as the guy who asked her out to prom when they were both in high school. He never got over that, and [[SinsOfOurFathers now he's making Anna fail just to get revenge on the woman who rejected him years ago]]. Tess threatens to report him to the school board if he doesn't knock it off.
* ''Film/{{Madeline}}'': Zizgagged with Miss Clavel. On the one hand, she finds Madeline to be her most challenging student due to her being a show-off and once said to her, "[[PrematurelyGreyHaired You're giving me grey hair]]." On the other hand, Clavel also feels sorry for Madeline because Madeline's an orphan.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/AmeliasNotebook'': Mr. Lambaste has a reputation as a SadistTeacher, but he particularly hates Amelia, insulting her in front of the entire class and cruelly rebuffing all her attempts to participate in class and be friendly to him. It turns out that he holds a grudge against her because her older sister, Cleo, pulled a prank on him two years earlier.
* ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'': [[PunnyName Ms. Tara Ribble]] doesn't like George and Harold for playing pranks and being imaginative, which are forbidden at the SuckySchool that is Jerome Horwitz Elementary. In ''The Wrath of the Wicked Wedgie Woman'', she sends them to the principal's office for drawing a comic book about her as the Wicked Wedgie Woman and later changes all their grades to F's and G's for pulling a prank that involves giving her a card from Mr. Krupp that says, "You're one hot mama! Will you marry me?", which nearly leads to them getting unwillingly married.
* ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'': In ''[[Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKidRodrickRules Rodrick Rules]]'', at least two of Greg's new teachers dislike him on principle because they had his big brother Rodrick (a BookDumb slacker and delinquent) in their classes a few years ago. His history teacher Mr. Huff glares at him and makes him sit in a chair right next to the teacher's desk, and his pre-algebra teacher Ms. Lee watches him like a hawk.
* ''Literature/DirtyBertie'': While Miss Boot is a SternTeacher in general, she particularly finds Bertie obnoxious because he's BookDumb and [[ThePigPen scruffy]].
* ''Literature/EllenAndOtis'': Subverted -- Ellen thinks that Miss Joyce does not like her because she's the only student who is never asked to clap the chalkboard erasers, which is considered very enjoyable. It turns out that Miss Joyce never asked her because she thought Ellen wouldn't want to get chalk dust all over her dresses, as she always keeps them so neat and clean.
* ''{{Literature/Fudge}}'': On Fudge's first day of kindergarten, he and his new teacher Mrs. Hildebrandt start butting heads almost immediately because Mrs. Hildebrandt insists on calling him by his full name, Farley Drexel, instead of his nickname (insisting that "Fudge is a good name for candy, not a good name for a boy"), and won't let him use the round blocks on the first day. She even comments, "There's something definitely wrong with that child." The problem is solved by transferring Fudge to a different kindergarten class with a more understanding teacher.
* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'': In ''Literature/SayCheeseAndDieAgain'', Greg gets stuck with a grumpy teacher named Mr. Saur. He gave Greg an F for writing a report on the cursed camera from [[Literature/SayCheeseAndDie the last book]] [[CassandraTruth which he didn't believe]]. After Greg gets a picture taken of him by the cursed camera and becomes fat, Mr. Saur starts to make fun of his weight. Even when Greg gets so fat that the kids stop making fun of him out of sympathy.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Professor Severus Snape is the mean old Potions teacher of Hogwarts who pegs Harry Potter as his least favorite student within seconds of meeting him, unfairly marking him down in class and letting the Slytherins bully him--especially Harry's rival and Snape's own favorite, Draco Malfoy. [[spoiler:It's because Harry looks like his father James, who was not only Snape's biggest bully during their Hogwarts days, but eventually married Lily, the only girl Snape ever loved.]]
** Aside from Harry, Neville Longbottom is Snape's other least favorite student because he is so clumsy, forgetful, and nervous that he constantly screws up in Potions, which gives Snape an excuse to berate him in front of the other students. In fact, Professor Remus Lupin's third-year lesson on boggarts--Dark creatures that turn into one's worst fear--reveals that Snape is Neville's worst fear in the whole world. [[spoiler:MisplacedRetribution has a hand in it; part of the reason Snape hates Neville is that he was the other potential "chosen" in Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, and if Voldemort had targeted him instead of Harry, then the Potters--including Lily--may have survived]].
** In Harry's [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth year]], the enmity he quickly develops with Professor Dolores Umbridge makes his and Snape's mutual loathing look downright friendly. Under orders from the Ministry of Magic, she stifles all of his attempts to tell everyone that Voldemort has returned, up to and including punishing him with detention where he's forced to carve the phrase "I must not tell lies" into the back of his hand. She also finds other ways to punish him, including banning him from the Quidditch team, taking away his privilege to visit Hogsmeade after finding out he published an interview in ''The Quibbler'' about Voldemort's return, and trying to get him expelled for starting a secret student organization to learn proper Defense Against the Dark Arts skills.
* ''Literature/AKindOfSpark'': Addie's teacher Ms. Murphy is frequently verbally abusive towards her because Addie is autistic, believing that she's just a badly behaving child whose parents don't bother to discipline her. She was also cruel to Addie's older, also autistic sister Keedie back when she was younger. She also keeps trying to get Addie put into a special school because she doesn't want to deal with her, even though just about all of Addie's former teachers liked her and considered her good at working independently. When another student named Emily destroys Addie's thesaurus and Addie violently fights back, Ms. Murphy is quick to assume Addie's violence was for no reason before hearing the whole story and refused to believe otherwise, even when presented with evidence to the contrary, even going so far as attempting to silence anyone who tries to tell her Addie's side. [[spoiler:After Addie’s parents learn what she put their daughters through, they file a complaint against her (with the implication that she’ll be investigated for discrimination) and Addie is put in a different class.]]
* ''LightNovel/TheMisfitOfDemonKingAcademy'': Emilia Lud(o)well looked down on Anos for being a half-demon despite how powerful he had been and attempted several times to upstage him only for her to get humiliated which range from trying to get him expelled to stealing a staff he found. The last straw for her was him defeating her brother in a duel which leads to her trying to kill eight half-demon students when they intervene in an attempt at stealing Anos's sword from his mother Izabella. Suffice to say, Anos puts a stop to this by turning Emilia into a half-demon just like him and the same students she tried to kill which led to her losing her job.
* ''Literature/ThePrimeOfMissJeanBrodie'': Miss Brodie constantly belittles Mary Macgregor for her slowness and purported stupidity. This extends beyond school [[spoiler:and even to Mary's untimely death in a hotel fire]].
* ''Literature/RamonaQuimby'': In ''Ramona the Brave'', Ramona is the unfavourite student to stern Mrs. Griggs, who is quick to punish her for perceived misbehavior. When Ramona helps her classmate Davy (who is dyslexic) with his work, Mrs. Griggs sees it as an inability to "keep her hands to herself". When Susan copies Ramona's paper-bag owl and Mrs. Griggs praises it, Ramona feels she can't tell Mrs. Griggs because the teacher's favorite refrain is "NobodyLikesATattletale," so she crumples Susan's owl and then her own out of frustration. Mrs. Griggs punishes Ramona for this by making her apologize to Susan in front of the whole class.
* ''Literature/WaysideSchool'': Mrs. Jewls pays special attention to [[ButtMonkey Todd]] and writes down even tiny or accidental misdemeanors. He's sent home early for being disruptive every day, even when he rarely does anything actually wrong.
* ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'': Downplayed -- the titular well-meaning student Mildred Hubble is highly inept, forgetful, and clumsy. Despite occasional PetTheDog moments, her form-teacher Miss Hardbroom frequently picks on her and compares her unfavourably to the top pupil Ethel Hallow. When the young students are presented with black cats, Mildred is given a dim-witted tabby instead; and Mildred strongly suspects that Miss Hardbroom has arranged this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'': The titular brothers have Mrs. Hayfer as their English teacher. While Mrs. Hayfer generally likes Josh, she utterly despises Drake for being lazy, rude, and not being good at his studies. The feeling is mutual on Drake's part, who thinks that Mrs. Hayfer disproportionately hates him as shown when Drake correctly answers a question, [[{{Hypocrite}} only for Mrs. Hayfer to call him wrong and immediately call another student right when he answers the exact same question]] and later immediately accuse Drake for being the one to park her car in her classroom, which Drake didn't do. Drake's hatred for Mrs. Hayfer is such that in a later episode, he excitedly asks if she died.
* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'': One episode had Reese thinking he was being persecuted by his teacher because he was getting bad grades. His mother Lois assumes that it is Reese [[NeverMyFault trying to dodge blame]] and orders Malcolm to help Reese study and, when he still got an "F", to pretend to be Reese and take the next test in his stead. That test got an "F" as well, showing that Reese was being ProperlyParanoid.
* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': PlayedWith as the series goes on. Mr. Sweeney is first portrayed as a SadistTeacher who has it out for Ned in particular, threatening him with bad grades and summer school with a bit of glee. However, Mr. Sweeney eventually proves to care for Ned and truly wants him to succeed, and the two end the series on good terms, Sweeney calling Ned one of his ''favorite'' students.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': George Costanza was this to his high school gym teacher, who [[MaliciousMisnaming nicknamed him]] "Can't Stand Ya" and gleefully helped a group of other students torment him.
* Jeremy Gilbert is this for Mr. Tanner in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Although we never actually see them interact, after Alaric takes over after Tanner's death, he mentions that Tanner had a "Jackass Folder" about how much he hated Jeremy.
* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'': In one episode, [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Rick]] shows off his old schoolbook with a written note from his old schoolmates to [[SmallNameBigEgo prove how much they all liked him]]. As soon as Neil reads it, Rick is InstantlyProvenWrong by the note saying, "[[MaliciousMisnaming Prick]] is a [[RougeAnglesOfSatin wonker]], signed, the rest of the class", and his attempts at passing it off as [[InsultOfEndearment friendly jokes]] are punctured by a follow-up note saying, "I agree with the rest of the class, signed, Teacher."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/HarryChapin's "Flowers Are Red" is about a little boy who has the creativity squashed out of him by his mean teacher, who punishes him for drawing flowers of many colors while saying, "Flowers are red, young man, and green leaves are green. There's no need to see flowers any other way than the way they always have been seen." After some time, he moves to a different school with a nicer teacher who encourages him to have fun painting and draw colorful flowers, but he draws them in neat rows with red petals and green leaves. When asked why, he repeats what his first teacher said: "Flowers are red and green leaves are green. There's no need to see flowers any other way than the way they always have been seen."
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/TurtleHead: Unmasked'', Blair Gardener became a major headache for Marina Lily for being a troublemaking {{delinquent|s}} who preferred to bully Marina's cousin Harriet over bothering to stove above a D average. Marina would frequently complain to her friend Simon Dale about her, [[spoiler:eventually leading to Simon deciding to do Marina his twisted idea of a favor by imprisoning and killing her]].
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[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'': When Kat Vance takes an assignment to photograph students at Devlin Academy, she learns that the headmistress there is Miss Strinpit in strip #238. In strip #242, Kat spells out to her boss just how miserable Strinpit made her junior years. Strinpit is still a blocky, humorless witch when Wentworth and Vance arrive for the shoot.
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[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared'': Sketchbook encourages the students to be creative, but seems to dislike Yellow Guy's ways of being creative, as she pours black paint onto his painting of a clown, and tells him "green is not a creative color" when he arranges sticks and leaves into the shape of the word "green", his favorite color.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Miss Fowl has a particular dislike towards Sheen Estevez. This is because Sheen is obsessed with [[ShowWithinAShow Ultra Lord]] to the point of [[ShowAndTellAntics showing his action figure of him for show and tell seven weeks in a row]], and because he is extremely BookDumb, to the point where he scored a [[FMinusMinus F----]] on a test (one of his answers was that Ultra Lord was the father of our country, which was on the official Ultra Lord website). She is also not above insulting Sheen's [[HollywoodToneDeaf terrible singing voice]], to the point where after she gives Sheen a solo in the school choir to thank him for saving the town from the Twonkies (since they like terrible music but hate good music), she locks him in a sound-proof booth. In ''Journey to the Center of Carl'', when all of her students are too sick to go to school thanks to Jimmy's sick patches, she admits that she misses all of her students, except for Sheen.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': Miss Simian is a grumpy, self-centered, and mean-spirited SadistTeacher in general, but has a particular hatred for Gumball. In multiple episodes, she does her best to make his life a living hell, to the extent that in "The Grades," the very idea of having him out of her class leads her to do a HappyDance. She was also mean to Gumball's mother Nicole when she had her as a student.
* ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'': Mrs. Brinks sees all her students as less than her favorite, Nanette Manoir, but she dislikes Angela considerably.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Denzel Crocker is a SadistTeacher who hates all his students (barring Chloe Carmichael), but it's pretty obvious that he especially hates Timmy Turner. This is because Crocker knows that Timmy has fairy godparents and resents that [[CassandraTruth nobody else believes him about fairies existing]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'': Mr. Mufflin is an ApatheticTeacher, but his view of the titular duo is more disdain than apathy. His EstablishingCharacterMoment has him say to himself that he will consider early retirement if he has to hold them back another year.
* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'': In TheMovie, Beachhead is in charge of training the Rawhides, new recruits to the Joes. Of them, he has it in the most for Falcon. He's fully justified, as Falcon is a lazy wannabe casanova who even dares to try to pull rank on Joe field commander Duke (Falcon being a lieutenant and Duke a First Sergeant), despite Duke being the NumberTwo according to TheChainOfCommand. Even the other Rawhides barely seem to tolerate him, since his antics also make ''them'' look bad.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''. The season 5 premiere is about Lincoln starting middle school and he gets assigned to Mr. Bolhofner's class, which is in a shed outside the school. Things go about as well you expect for [[ButtMonkey Lincoln]] with Chandler demolishing his desk and chair by removing the screws. Bolhofner is unsympathetic to him and expects gratitude for borrowing a kindergarten seat for him and [[KarmaHoudini pays no attention to Chandler]]. He's not totally unreasonable however, as after Lincoln returns from studying in Canada and having become accustomed to the colder temperatures there, asks for the thermostat to be lowered. The rest of the class gasps in horror, but Bolhofner agrees saying he never turned it down because no student ever asked. A later episode shows Chandler messing with Lincoln again and Bolhofner only deals with Lincoln. Lincoln tries to get a new seat by offering to let him join his dad's music band. When Bolhofner takes over the band, Lincoln feels sorry for his dad and the other bandmates and allows them to kick him out of the band. Bolhofner threatens to put Lincoln back to his old seat near Chandler. The next school day, he changes his mind deciding he was proud of Lincoln standing up to him and let him remain on the side of the classroom opposite Chandler.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Madeline}}'': In ''Madeline at the Ballet'', Madeline is the only one in her class not initially chosen to perform in the school's production of ''The Happy Swan'' because the dance teacher, Gaston, thinks she is too short. She is eventually chosen due to the prima ballerina intervening on her behalf, but during rehearsals, Gaston has no praise for her even when she improves, even though he praises the other girls.
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'': Miss Quantum used to be evil until she became a teacher to help kids. But she tends to be very hard and stern towards her students, and for some reason, has a particular dislike towards K.O.'s friend Dendy who's the smart kid.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'': All the teachers in the main characters' school come as [[SternTeacher strict and stern]] (if not sometimes [[SadistTeacher sadistic]]), but they absolutely despise Augustus "Gus" Bachman-Turner. They have a very [[JustifiedTrope good reason]] for that: Gus is an InsufferableImbecile ([[{{Jerkass}} crude]], [[SmugSnake arrogant]], [[{{Greed}} greedy]], [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], BookDumb and [[TheDitz street dumb]] to the extreme, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking plus]] he's a [[ThePigPen Pig Pen]] and BigEater {{Gasshole}} with JabbaTableManners). For example, one teacher '''cancels''' a test when Gus goes to the school nurse (he infected himself with fleas to get out of taking the test) and other teacher angrily brings out the test with Gus's usual "F", only for his car to be destroyed by [[ItMakesSenseInContext possessed monster truck]]. This definitely doesn't raise his reputation.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E3LisasSax Lisa's Sax]]" shows that the reason Bart became such a troublemaker at school was that his kindergarten teacher constantly put him down for not catching on to things as quickly as his classmates.
--->'''Teacher:''' "And the ugly duckling was amazed to realize it had grown into a beautiful swan." So you see, children, there is hope for anyone.
--->'''Bart:''' Even me?
--->'''Teacher:''' [[KickTheDog No.]]
** In the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS24E15BlackEyedPlease Black Eyed Please]]", a substitute teacher named Ms. Cantrell arrives to Lisa's classroom and promptly turns it into a living hell for Lisa, handing out bad grades and worse punishments [[BecauseISaidSo purely on a whim]] while all other students (even Ralph) are treated a lot better. Cantrell reveals as she leaves (thanks to Bart tormenting her) that it's the result of IrrationalHatred for pretty students that developed because she was bullied in school (Lisa, on her part, is surprised that Cantrell considers her pretty at all).
** Mr. Largo, the Elementary's music teacher, hates Lisa because she plays jazz (her breaking out into a jazz solo during school practice is a CouchGag in the opening credits, even). This comes to a head in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS29E17LisaGetsTheBlues Lisa Gets The Blues]]", in which Largo finally has enough and [[HopeCrusher completely demolishes Lisa's hopes of ever becoming a professional player]] with a BreakingSpeech so she will never bother him again.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': While PC Principal is confrontational and ill-tempered towards most of his students, he has a particular hatred towards Leslie. He interrupts himself during his speeches to yell at her for whispering to a different student, even calling the police to arrest her for it. [[spoiler:The fact we find out that she's a sentient ad out to use political correctness for nefarious purposes is just a coincidence.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': [=SpongeBob=] is Mrs. Puff's least favorite student in her boat-driving school because he DrivesLikeCrazy and has failed his driving test more than a million times. On at least one occasion ("[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS8E21SquiditisDemolitionDoofus Demolition Doofus]]"), she has gotten so mad at [=SpongeBob=] that she actually tries to kill him.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': In [[FlashbackEpisode "Autoboot Camp"]], we're shown Bumblebee and Bulkhead's past in basic training. They get on the bad side of [[DrillSergeantNasty Sentinel Major, their drill instructor]], on their very first day. A fellow Autobot demonstrates skill with his stinger weapons and gets named "Wasp"; Bumblebee's clumsy attempt to do the same leads Sentinel to decry him as being a bumbler (hence "'''Bumble'''bee"). Bulkhead's demonstration likewise ends with Sentinel growling that even his head must be nothing but armour, hence Bulk'''head'''. Throughout the episode, they just continue to inflict AmusingInjuries on Sentinel by accident, which only fuels his dislike for them even more.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Literature/WaysideSchool'': Mrs. Jewls pays special attention to [[ButtMonkey Todd]] and writes down even tiny or accidental misdemeanors. He's sent home early for being disruptive every day.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Madeline}}'': In ''Madeline at the Ballet'', Madeline is the only one in her class not initially chosen to perform in ''The Happy Swan'' because the dance teacher, Gaston, thinks she is too short. She is eventually chosen due to the prima ballerina intervening on her behalf, but during rehearsals, Gaston has no praise for her even when she improves, even though he praises the other girls.

In the most extreme examples, the teacher may actively attempt to get their least favorite student expelled from the school by framing them for causing trouble or watching them like a hawk and waiting for them to screw up so they have reason to declare that the student is nothing but a future delinquent and criminal.

* Jeremy Gilbert is this for Mr. Tanner in The Vampire Diaries. Although we never actually see them interact, after Alaric takes over after Tanner's death, he mentions that Tanner had a "Jackass Folder" about how much he hated Jeremy.

* The student is creative and imaginative, but they have a stern, boring, by-the-book teacher who doesn't appreciate those qualities.

* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/TurtleHead'', Blair Gardener became a major headache for Marina Lily for being a troublemaking {{delinquent|s}} who preferred to bully Marina's cousin Harriet over bothering to stove above a D average. Marina would frequently complain to her friend Simon Dale about her, [[spoiler:eventually leading to Simon deciding to do Marina his twisted idea of a favor by imprisoning and killing her]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Denzel Crocker is a SadistTeacher who hates all his students (barring Chloe Carmichael), but it's pretty obvious that he especially hates Timmy Turner.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'': Part of the main character Julia's backstory involves her having had a teacher who believed Julia's parents were [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery using her autism as an excuse not to discipline her properly]] and therefore refused to make allowances for Julia's needs, openly referring to her as a "trouble-maker".. Things came to a head when this teacher falsely accused Julia of letting several Pokémon loose and physically restrained her, causing her to become hysterical and develop an intense dislike of Pokémon battles, though she later overcomes this. The teacher was subsequently fired and prosecuted for child cruelty, and Julia was transferred to another school.

* ''Fanfic/PokemonAMarvelousJourney'': Part of the main character Julia's backstory involves her having had a teacher who believed Julia's parents were [[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery using her autism as an excuse not to discipline her properly]] and therefore refused to make allowances for Julia's needs. Things came to a head when this teacher falsely accused Julia of letting several Pokémon loose and physically restrained her, causing her to become hysterical and develop an intense dislike of Pokémon battles, though she later overcomes this. The teacher was subsequently fired and prosecuted for child cruelty, and Julia's parents transferred her to another school.

* ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'': In ''Literature/SayCheeseAndDieAgain'', Greg gets stuck with a grumpy teacher named Mr. Saur. He gave Greg an F for writing a report on the cursed camera from [[Literature/SayCheeseAndDie the last book]] [[CassandraTruth which he didn't believe]]. After Greg gets a picture taken of him by the cursed camera and becomes fat, Mr. Saur starts to make fun of his weight.

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': Dean Wormer, as a DeanBitterman, hates the students of the Delta House fraternity to an extreme and when he gets the chance to kick them out, he also reports them to the Army as being now draft-worthy (which in a movie taking place in TheSixties means [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar almost certain death]]). The plot is an UnbuiltTrope of WackyFratboyHijinx films, however, and Wormer does [[VillainHasAPoint has a point to expel them]] because Delta House is disruptive and destructive to a degree that any realistic college authority would just not allow existing within the campus.
-->'''Dean Wormer:''' ''(to "Flounder" Dorfman)'' Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

->''In all my years of teaching, only one student has ever failed my class.''
-->--'''Mrs. Puff''' about [=SpongeBob=] himself, ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''

The student is probably a ButtMonkey, the teacher is likely to be a SadistTeacher, SternTeacher, EvilTeacher, CynicalMentor and/or a JerkassToOne (though they [[JerkassHasAPoint may have a point if the student is particularly rude or disruptive]]), and the school they work for is likely to be a SuckySchool, DustbinSchool, AssimilationAcademy, or BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. Compare the BosssUnfavoriteEmployee. See also TeachersPet, which isn't necessarily the direct inversion of the trope, but such a character is often the teacher's favorite, due to sucking up to the teacher and trying to be an ideal student. If the teacher hates the student because of something their parent or older sibling did, it can veer into MisplacedRetribution.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'': One of Jeremy's teachers, Ms. Butcher, has it out for him. She gave both Hector and Jeremy 97% on a test, but Hector's was an A and Jeremy's a C-. And she [[CouldntFindAPen wrote Jeremy's grade in blood]]. When Jeremy's dad asks him if he really thinks she spends all her time thinking of ways to make his life miserable, there's a DescriptionCut to Ms. Butcher writing a list entitled "Ways to make Jeremy Duncan's life miserable".

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': Dean Wormer, as a DeanBitterman, hates the students of the Delta House fraternity to an extreme and when he gets the chance to kick them out, he also reports them to the Army as being now draft-worthy (which in a movie taking place in TheSixties means [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar almost certain death]]). The plot is an UnbuiltTrope of WackyFratboyHijinx films, however, and Wormer does [[VillainHasAPoint has a point to expel them]], because Delta House is disruptive and destructive to a degree that any realistic college authority would just not allow to exist within the campus.
-->'''Dean Wormer (to "Flounder" Dorfman)''': Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
* ''Film/FreakyFriday2003'': Anna is convinced that her English teacher, Mr. Elton Bates, hates her for no reason. Her mom, Tess, is unconvinced--until the FreakyFridayFlip happens and she sees firsthand that Mr. Bates is extremely lenient with all the other students but overly strict with Anna, and even outright lies about Anna's answers being incorrect as an excuse to fail her. Tess-in-Anna's-body finally recognizes Elton Bates as the guy who asked her out to prom when they were both in high school. He never got over that, and now he's making Anna fail just to get revenge on the woman who rejected him years ago. Tess threatens to report him to the school board if he doesn't knock it off.

** Aside from Harry, Neville Longbottom is Snape's other least favorite student because he is so clumsy, forgetful, and nervous that he constantly screws up in Potions, which gives Snape an excuse to berate him in front of the other students. In fact, Professor Remus Lupin's third-year lesson on boggarts--Dark creatures that turn into one's worst fear--reveals that Snape is Neville's worst fear in the whole world. [[spoiler:MisplacedRetribution has a hand in it; part of the reason Snape hates Neville is because he was the other potential "chosen" in Sybill Trelawney's prophecy, and if Voldemort had targeted him instead of Harry, then the Potters--including Lily--may have survived]].
** In Harry's [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth year]], the enmity he quickly develops with Professor Dolores Umbridge makes his and Snape's mutual loathing look downright friendly. Under orders from the Ministry of Magic, she stifles all of his attempts to tell everyone that Voldemort has returned, up to and including punishing him with a detention where he's forced to carve the phrase "I must not tell lies" into the back of his hand. She also finds other ways to punish him, including banning him from the Quidditch team, taking away his privilege to visit Hogsmeade after finding out he published an interview in ''The Quibbler'' about Voldemort's return, and trying to get him expelled for starting a secret student organization to learn proper Defense Against the Dark Arts skills.

* ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'': Downplayed -- the titular well-meaning student Mildred Hubble is highly inept, forgetful and clumsy. Despite occasional PetTheDog moments, her form-teacher Miss Hardbroom frequently picks on her, and compares her unfavourably to the top pupil Ethel Hallow. When the young students are presented with black cats, Mildred is given a dim-witted tabby instead; and Mildred strongly suspects that Miss Hardbroom has arranged this.

* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': PlayedWith as the series goes on. Mr. Sweeney is first portrayed as a SadistTeacher who has it out for Ned in particular, threatening him with bad grades and summer school with a bit of glee. However, Mr. Sweeney eventually proves to care for Ned and truly want him to succeed, and the two end the series on good terms, Sweeney calling Ned one of his ''favorite'' students.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'': All the teachers in the main characters' school comes as [[SternTeacher strict and stern]] (if not sometimes [[SadistTeacher sadistic]]), but they absolutely despise Augustus "Gus" Bachman-Turner. They have a very [[JustifiedTrope good reason]] for that: Gus is an InsufferableImbecile ([[{{Jerkass}} crude]], [[SmugSnake arrogant]], [[{{Greed}} greedy]], [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], BookDumb and [[TheDitz street dumb]] to the extreme, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking plus]] he's a [[ThePigPen Pig Pen]] and BigEater {{Gasshole}} with JabbaTableManners). For example, one teacher '''cancels''' a test when Gus goes to the school nurse (he infected himself with fleas to get out of taking the test) and other teacher angrily brings out the test with Gus's usual "F", only for his car to be destroyed by [[ItMakesSenseInContext possessed monster truck]]. This definitely doesn't raise his reputation.

** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E3LisasSax Lisa's Sax]]" shows that the reason Bart became such a troublemaker at school was because his kindergarten teacher constantly put him down for not catching on to things as quickly as his classmates.

[[/folder]]

* ''Film/AnimalHouse'': Dean Wormer, as a DeanBitterman, hates the students of the Delta House fraternity to an extreme and when he gets the chance to kick them out, he also reports them to the Army as being now draft-worthy (which in a movie taking place in TheSixties means [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar almost certain death]]). The plot is an UnbuiltTrope of WackyFratboyHijinx films, however, and Wormer do [[VillainHasAPoint has a point to expel them]], because Delta House is disruptive and destructive to a degree that any realistic college authority would just not allow to exist within the campus.
-->'''Dean Wormer (to "Flounder" Dorfman)''': Fat, drunk and stupid ain't no way to go through in life, son.

Bob dreads waking up every morning and going to school. Is it the bullies? Is it the mountains of homework? Or the FoulCafeteriaFood? Nope, worse than all of those put together--his new homeroom teacher Mrs. Alice has it out for him personally, and no one else. She watches him at all times for any signs of causing trouble, always asks him the hardest questions (and mocks him when he doesn't answer them correctly), never lets him go to the bathroom, always looks for excuses to give him detention, and seems to take sadistic pleasure in writing [[FMinusMinus big, fat, red F's]] on all his tests.

'''Indices''': SchoolTropes, {{Schoolteachers}}, AuthorityTropes, IndexOfHatedCharacters, TheJerkIndex, {{Villains}}, NoRealLife/MoralityTropes, {{Youngsters}}, TruthInTelevision