History TookALevelInJerkass / MarvelUniverse

** ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}'s days of being friendly and lovable seem to be behind him. Starting after M-Day, he began making more and more morally questionable choices thinking only he could be trusted to make the right call. By [[ComicBook/XMenTheKrakoanAge the Krakoan Age]] he's become a villain in all but name. He's mind-controlled the leaders of a foreign country, ran a secret prison to experiment on prisoners, murdered Wolverine, and then secretly mind-controlled him as an assassin.

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'': In his earlier appearances, Curt Connors was a reasonably sympathetic character when he wasn't [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Lizard]], and even as the Lizard retained some protective instincts towards his family. He was {{retcon}}ned into being EvilAllAlong, and as of ''[[ComicBook/BrandNewDay The Gauntlet]]'' he [[spoiler: completely lost control of the Lizard persona and ''killed and ate his own son'']]. After that, his more sympathetic characterization likely won't be coming back any time soon… until Nick Spencer’s run where he’s depicted as a ScienceHero. It helps that his son’s death was undone by Jackal.
** The EvilAllAlong ret-con was pretty much ret-conned itself after the story that introduced the idea, as no other writer has used it since then.

** Bruce himself has gotten this in the modern era. Originally he was a pure NiceGuy and TheWoobie but in the 2000s Bruce is written to be a more self-destructive nihilist who wants nothing more than to destroy his child-like alter ego and alienates practically everyone who loves and cares about him including his wife Betty and cousin Jennifer. The cumulates in the 2011 series where it’s explicitly stated and shown without Hulk to vent his impulses Bruce would be a MadScientist. Not helping this is an earlier retcon flashback storyline that reveals Bruce almost blew up his high school to get revenge on his bullies. In ''Immortal Hulk'' however Bruce is written to be more of a KnightInSourArmour who is a good person deep down and manages to comes to terms with his personas. Sadly this was development was ignored when Donny Cates took over from Al Ewing.

* ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'': In his earlier appearances, Curt Connors was a reasonably sympathetic character when he wasn't [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Lizard]], and even as the Lizard retained some protective instincts towards his family. He was {{retcon}}ned into being EvilAllAlong, and as of ''The Gauntlet'' he [[spoiler: completely lost control of the Lizard persona and ''killed and ate his own son'']]. After that, his more sympathetic characterization likely won't be coming back any time soon… until Nick Spencer’s run where he’s depicted as a ScienceHero. It helps that his son’s death was undone by Jackal.

** Most of the ComicBook/NewMutants, but especially Cannonball who went from NiceGuy to aggressive jerk. This was gradually fixed however.

** ComicBook/KittyPryde: After Teen Scott leaves in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen'', she acts like a jerk to Modern Scott and says she doesn't want Scott and Teen Jean alone, since Teen Jean showed some attraction to Scott... even though she admits that Scott handled the situation well. Then, she berates Teen Angel for letting X-23 leave, even though there's nothing he could've done outside knocking her out, which he probably couldn't even have done. As she berates Teen Angel, she half admits that the reason for her shift in attitude, temporary as it is, is that she's trying to keep her students safe and feels like she's losing control. In ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' Kitty (now Kate) walks the fine line between the righteous person she usually is and a more wild and brutal anti-hero as the new Red Queen and PirateGirl of the Hellfire club in ''ComicBook/Marauders2022'' — which is probably inevitable when you team up with the likes of Emma Frost, Daken and Kwannon.

** ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}'s days of being friendly and lovable seem to be behind him. Starting after M-Day, he began making more and more morally questionable choices thinking only he could be trusted to make the right call. By [[ComicBook/XMenTheKrakoanAge the Krakoan Age]] he's become a villain in all but name. He's mind-controlled the leaders of a foreign country, run a secret prison to experiment on prisoners, murdered Wolverine, and then secretly mind-controlled him as an assassin.
** Destiny also gets this in the Krakoan Age. Previously she was written to be the nicer mom of Rogue compared to Mystique, being polite, patient and kind despite still being a villain. In [[https://pm1.aminoapps.com/7041/bf89b8eb11c18cc467620f4420e5d5c947e5824er1-750-1334v2_hq.jpg Necrosha]] when BackFromTheDead with Rogue Destiny gave her adoptive daughter a SoProudOfYou and said she’d love her no matter what. This attitude was thrown in the trash when Destiny came back for real as she’s an emotional manipulative ControlFreak to Rogue same as Mystique and spites her daughter’s marriage to Gambit.

* Played with concerning [[Comicbook/AntMan Hank Pym]] in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. Initially presented as a NiceGuy scientist, he had a number of Jerkass moments when he became Ant-Man, particularly his tendency to dismiss and verbally put down his love interest ComicBook/TheWasp. However, he ''really'' took a level when he had a mental breakdown and became the anti-heroic Yellowjacket, eventually getting to the point he tried to cause a robot attack he could foil to look heroic. After hitting rock bottom, he built up and became a NiceGuy again after some development.
* Although he was already somewhat of a jerk, Comicbook/IronMan during the ''Comicbook/CivilWar2006''[=/=]''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' period was borderline approaching villain status. Thankfully, [[Film/IronMan the movie]] helped him to get the better of it.
** He got worse again during the "Superior Iron Man" phase, though this was due to his alignment being inverted during ''ComicBook/{{Axis}}''.
* Speaking of ''Civil War'' ComicBook/CaptainAmerica himself took a level in jackassery, calling Tony a “pampered punk” and generally being an obstinate and violent stick in the mud whom refuses to listen to the other side of the argument. The writer Creator/MarkMillar is the one created the infamously douchey [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Cap]] and it’s abundantly clear his interpretation bleed over onto main universe Steve.
** Cap got this again in ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' where his usual genteel diplomacy is thrown out the window as he hounds Hope Summers demanding she be hand over and ignoring the mutants’s protests acting like an asshole GeneralRipper rather than TheParagon.

* A lot people note ComicBook/CarolDanvers received this upon discarding her Ms Marvel persona and becoming the new Captain Marvel. While she’s always been abrasive and outspoken and in at least one comic happy to let a alien villain suffocate in the vacuum space in front of her, she was still generally compassionate, patient and [[TheCape unambiguously heroic]]. The moments where she lashed out at people were usually justified [[labelnote:Example]] The WhatTheHellHero she gives the Avengers who were largely unconcerned about the whole “mystically impregnated under mind control by her own TimeyWimeyBall son Marcus” thing [[/labelnote]] or at least sympathetic given her bouts with alcoholism and a domineering misogynistic father who ignored her achievements and wanted her to StayInTheKitchen. After becoming Captain Marvel however her nicer moments soon became fewer and far between as Carol started getting written more like a superpowered Maria Hill being extremely callous, suspicious, short tempered and tactless. This cumulated in ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' where Carol is essentially a VillainProtagonist who uses Ulysses to hound people down, gets Rhodey, She-Hulk and Bruce Banner killed and puts Tony in a coma. Tellingly even Kamala (her protégé amd greatest fan) disowned Carol for her actions and sided against her. Much like Tony though she does become nice again in the wake of her actions and becomes TheAtoner, acknowledging she has problems that need fixing.

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] has suffered this for decades to the point where it’s become {{Flanderization}}, he’s never been as popular as other X-Men (especially Wolverine and Storm) despite being TheLeader so writers have no problem dragging poor Scott through the dirt and making him look as bad as possible. While Cyke wasn’t the most cuddle and warm person to begin with — his aloofness was explicitly called out and jabbed at by Iceman, Beast and Angel from the earliest comics, he was still TheCape being just as much a boy scout as Captain America. Overtime Cyclops started getting written to be more and more of a jerk with him infamously leaving his pregnant wife Madelyne Pryor to be with Jean Grey after she was BackFromTheDead (before Maddy was retconned to be Jean’s clone). Scott only got worse after Scott married Jean as not only did he start to have mental affairs with Emma Frost but also uses X-Force as his personal wet works kill-squad and gets over Jean’s second death way too quickly to shack up with Emma (another retcon explains Jean wanted Scott to happy and changed reality to make it happen). This all cumulated in Scott becoming a FallenHero after the ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' business and likened to a mutant Hitler. Fortunately for Cyclops’ fans this was eventually undone with Scott becoming a hero again in ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' though he still remains as troubled as ever.

** Believe it or not but [[Characters/MarvelComicsMystique Mystique]] got this. While still a villain under her creator Chris Claremont’s pen Raven was consistently a NobleDemon who showed a fair number of standards (she didn’t kill Charles when he was at her mercy) and sympathetic qualities (she genuinely cherished Rogue and stayed her hand when about to stab Nightcrawler, her son). After Claremont left, it became de rigueur for writers to make Mystique as the biggest blue bitch on the planet with her disgustingly abusing and hurting Rogue on the regular and her cruelty went from moderate to KickTheDog obscene. For example, she killed her son Graydon whom she abandoned and spurned with zero hesitation or so much as a single twinge of regret. She doesn’t get any better in ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' with Raven eventually betraying everyone again to bring Destiny back [[spoiler: though granted Moira was keeping Destiny dead so she wouldn’t spill beans about ThePlan to end mutantkind, so Mystique was the LesserOfTwoEvils there.]]

** ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}}'s days of being friendly and lovable seem to be behind him. Starting after M-Day, he began making more and more morally questionable choices thinking only he could be trusted to make the right call. By the Krakoan Age he's become a villain in all but name. He's mind-controlled the leaders of a foreign country, run a secret prison to experiment on prisoners, murdered Wolverine, and then sectretly mind-controlled him as an assassin.

* [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], with his oxygen-processing problem, is either an arrogant but noble superhero or TheFriendNobodyLikes. Granted he’s always been kind of a dick who dislikes and attacks humanity even as early as 1939.
* In his earlier appearances, Curt Connors of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' was a reasonably sympathetic character when he wasn't [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Lizard]], and even as the Lizard retained some protective instincts towards his family. He was {{retcon}}ned into being EvilAllAlong, and as of ''The Gauntlet'' he [[spoiler: completely lost control of the Lizard persona and ''killed and ate his own son'']]. After that, his more sympathetic characterization likely won't be coming back any time soon… until Nick Spencer’s run where he’s depicted as a ScienceHero. It helps that his son’s death was undone by Jackal.
** The EvilAllAlong ret-con was pretty much ret-conned itself after the story that introduced the idea, as no other writer has used it since then.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen''
** Nightcrawler started as a nice guy, as the mainstream version. Then he had an homophobic reaction when Colossus came out of the closet, and then towards all the X-Men.
** Initially, Pyro helped other mutants and even joined the X-Men. Then came ''ComicBook/TheUltimates 3'', where he was not only turned into a villain for no real reason, but suggested he and Mastermind rape Valkyrie.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Detective Molly von Richthofen was a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst when she first appeared in ''ComicBook/ThePunisherWelcomeBackFrank'', being the only character to not completely treat [[ButtMonkey Detective Soap]] horribly despite being annoyed by his whining. When she returned in the arc "The Resurrection of Ma Gnucci" in ''Punisher War Zone'' 8 years later, she's now an insanely jealous PsychoLesbian {{Yandere}} who brutally attacks and beats anyone who even looks the wrong way at her bisexual partner. When she ends up getting suspended and her partner later breaks up with her (surprisingly, ''not'' for any of the unprovoked beatings she delivered), when she comes across a punk who's traded barbs with her in the past, she takes things out on him [[DisproportionateRetribution by shooting and killing his dog when it pees on the street]].

** [[spoiler: While Beast and Destiny got this bad more recently, neither can really hold a candle to Moira [=MacTaggert=]. Thanks to Creator/JonathanHickman Moira not only retroactively TookALevelInBadass from the gentle and caring TokenHuman LoveInterest of Charles but also became a toxic, misanthropic, despicable TeamKiller who thanks to her retcon {{Reincarnation}} mutant power has decided all mutants must die. Her actions after being exposed and DePowered in ''ComicBook/{{Inferno|2015}}'' only become more and more cartoonishly sadistic with her kidnapping and impersonating Mary Jane Watson to get into the ''ComicBook/HellfireGala'', taking a page of Mystique book and being an abusive mother to Proteus again (just because) and even killing Banshee (one of her dearest lovers and friends) in cold blood and stripping his skin for sake of getting into Krakoa. Fans are generally [[BrokenBase split]] whether this was a compelling turn for a previously minor character or character assassination of a hero for the sake of a new villain.]]

** [[spoiler: While Beast and Destiny got this bad more recently, neither can really hold a candle to Moira [=MacTaggert=]. Thanks to Creator/JonathanHickman Moira not only retroactively TookALevelInBadass from the gentle and caring TokenHuman LoveInterest of Charles but also became a toxic, misanthropic, despicable TeamKiller who thanks to her retcon {{Reincarnation}} mutant power has decided all mutants must die. Her actions after being exposed and DePowered in ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}'' only become more and more cartoonishly sadistic with her kidnapping and impersonating Mary Jane Watson to get into the ''ComicBook/HellfireGala'', taking a page of Mystique book and being an abusive mother to Proteus again (just because) and even killing Banshee (one of her dearest lovers and friends) in cold blood and stripping his skin for sake of getting into Krakoa. Fans are generally [[BrokenBase split]] whether this was a compelling turn for a previously minor character or character assassination of a hero for the sake of a new villain.]]

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsBeast Beast's]] days of being friendly and lovable seem to be behind him. Starting after M-Day, he began making more and more morally questionable choices thinking only he could be trusted to make the right call. By the Krakoan Age he's become a villain in all but name. He's mind-controlled the leaders of a foreign country, run a secret prison to experiment on prisoners, murdered Wolverine, and then sectretly mind-controlled him as an assassin.

** Believe it or not but Characters/{{Mystique}} got this. While still a villain under her creator Chris Claremont’s pen Raven was consistently a NobleDemon whom showed a fair number of standards (she didn’t kill Charles when he was at her mercy) and sympathetic qualities (she genuinely cherished Rogue and stayed her hand when about to stab Nightcrawler, her son). After Claremont left, it became de rigueur for writers to make Mystique as the biggest blue bitch on the planet with her disgustingly abusing and hurting Rogue on the regular and her cruelty went from moderate to KickTheDog obscene. For example she killed her son Graydon whom she abandoned and spurned with zero hesitation or so much as a single twinge of regret. She doesn’t get any better in ''ComicBook/XMen2019'' with Raven eventually betraying everyone again to bring Destiny back [[spoiler: though granted Moira was keeping Destiny dead so she wouldn’t spill beans about ThePlan to end mutantkind, so Mystique was the LesserOfTwoEvils there.]]

* A lot people note ComicBook/CarolDanvers received this upon discarding her Ms Marvel persona and becoming the new Captain Marvel. While she’s always been abrasive and outspoken and in at least one comic happy to let a alien villain suffocate in the vacuum space in front of her, she was still generally compassionate, patient and [[TheCape unambiguously heroic]]. The moments where she lashed out at people were usually justified [[labelnote:Example]] The WhatTheHellHero she gives the Avengers who were largely unconcerned about the whole “mystically impregnated under mind control by her own TimeyWimeyBall son Marcus” thing [[/labelnote]] or at least sympathetic given her bouts with alcoholism and a domineering misogynistic father who ignored her achievements and wanted her to StayInTheKitchen. After becoming Captain Marvel however her nicer moments soon became fewer and far between as Carol started getting written more like a superpowered Maria Hill being extremely callous, suspicious, short tempered and tactless. This cumulated in ComicBook/CivilWarII where Carol is essentially a VillainProtagonist who uses Ulysses to hound people down, gets Rhodey, She-Hulk and Bruce Banner killed and puts Tony in a coma. Tellingly even Kamala (her protégé amd greatest fan) disowned Carol for her actions and sided against her. Much like Tony though she does become nice again in the wake of her actions and becomes TheAtoner, acknowledging she has problems that need fixing.
** Ironically the same process happened [[TookALevelInKindness in reverse]] for Carol’s rival ComicBook/{{Rogue}} who started off as a butch, short-haired, arrogant HateSink but eventually became a nicer and more compassionate and heroic person. This case of SwappedRoles is partially acknowledged InUniverse however, leading to one truly heartwarming moment in ''Captain Marvel (2019)'' Issue #49 where Rogue is the one to talk Carol back from her DespairEventHorizon saying neither of them are BeyondRedemption for their actions and she won’t let Carol carry her burdens alone. [[CoolDownHug They hug]].

** Most of the ComicBook/NewMutants, but especially Cannonball.
** A ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' example with Hellion. While already a tremendous ass to begin with, he somehow ''still'' managed to take another level after his hands got blowed up by Bastion.
** ComicBook/KittyPryde: After Teen Scott leaves in ''All-New X-Men'', she acts like a jerk to Modern Scott and says she doesn't want Scott and Teen Jean alone, since Teen Jean showed some attraction to Scott... even though she admits that Scott handled the situation well. Then, she berates Teen Angel for letting X-23 leave, even though there's nothing he could've done outside knocking her out, which he probably couldn't even have done. As she berates Teen Angel, she half admits that the reason for her shift in attitude, temporary as it is, is that she's trying to keep her students safe and feels like she's losing control.

* In his earlier appearances, Curt Connors of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' was a reasonably sympathetic character when he wasn't [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Lizard]], and even as the Lizard retained some protective instincts towards his family. He was {{retcon}}ned into being EvilAllAlong, and as of ''The Gauntlet'' he [[spoiler: completely lost control of the Lizard persona and ''killed and ate his own son'']]. After that, his more sympathetic characterization likely won't be coming back any time soon.

** Betty Ross has gotten this ever since TheReveal that Red She-Hulk is her. Previously she was a compassionate and loving person whom cared deeply for Bruce as his wife, the only times where she was violent or cruel was when she was Harpy. Since her Red She-Hulk revamp she’s been written to be cold, vindictive and angry especially to Bruce whom lashes out against frequently. Although this attitude is pretty damn justified if you consider the TraumaCongaLine Betty has been through i.e getting turned into a monster, her father storming her wedding with a gun, suffering a miscarriage after learning Bruce had been killed, getting gamma radiation poisoning, being mystically raped and impregnated by Nightmare (DependingOnTheWriter whether it was her or some other woman) and has been cheated on twice when Hulk slept with two alien women, one of whom Caiera gave birth to two sons. Can you really fault her for being callous after all that?

* Although he was already kind of a jerk, Comicbook/IronMan during the Comicbook/CivilWar[=/=]ComicBook/SecretInvasion period was borderline approaching villain status. Thankfully, [[Film/IronMan the movie]] helped him to get the better of it.

* ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Nearly every incarnation of the Hulk goes through periods where he goes from [[TheWoobie Woobie]] to JerkassWoobie to just plain {{Jerkass}}. Then again, it's The Hulk. His different personalities have different levels of jerkass. The most notable one was his Grey Hulk phase, or Mr. Fixit as he called himself. This Hulk enjoyed beating people [[BloodKnight a bit too much]] and even accepted to work as an enforcer in Vegas so he could earn money for punching people all day. His newfound intelligence allowed him to be much crueler with his foes than the classic Green Hulk ever was. For example, when attacked by the Rock and Redeemer, he took advantage of the Rock's spinning spikes attack, smashing Redeemer against said spikes and effectively killing him.

* [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], with his oxygen-processing problem, is either an arrogant but noble superhero or TheFriendNobodyLikes.

** ComicBook/KittyPryde'': After Teen Scott leaves in ''All-New X-Men'', she acts like a jerk to Modern Scott and says she doesn't want Scott and Teen Jean alone, since Teen Jean showed some attraction to Scott... even though she admits that Scott handled the situation well. Then, she berates Teen Angel for letting X-23 leave, even though there's nothing he could've done outside knocking her out, which he probably couldn't even have done. As she berates Teen Angel, she half admits that the reason for her shift in attitude, temporary as it is, is that she's trying to keep her students safe and feels like she's losing control.

* Nearly every incarnation of [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]] goes through periods where he goes from [[TheWoobie Woobie]] to JerkassWoobie to just plain {{Jerkass}}. Then again, it's The Hulk. His different personalities have different levels of jerkass. The most notable one was his Grey Hulk phase, or Mr. Fixit as he called himself. This Hulk enjoyed beating people [[BloodKnight a bit too much]] and even accepted to work as an enforcer in Vegas so he could earn money for punching people all day. His newfound intelligence allowed him to be much crueler with his foes than the classic Green Hulk ever was. For example, when attacked by the Rock and Redeemer, he took advantage of the Rock's spinning spikes attack, smashing Redeemer against said spikes and effectively killing him.

** ComicBook/IllyanaRasputin used to be a sweet, innocent kid until she was kidnapped by a demon. After spending one decade forced to live among demons and learn dark magic, she often acts as an abrasive asshole. In ''Avengers vs. X-Men'', she started imprisoning captured Avengers by having demons feed on their souls until they were comatose.