Basic Trope: A group of friends don't get along with one particular character, but hang out with them anyway.
- Straight: Jake and his friends (Alice, Bob, Charles, Diane, Jim) dislike being around with George.
- Exaggerated:
- Jake and his friends hate George to the point where they rather see him dead.
- Jake and his friends are all pretty awful to each other, but George especially gets singled out the most.
- Despite being in a lot of friend groups (from the nerds, geeks, and average joes to the jocks, cheerleaders, and even bullies), George is basically disliked in all of them, to the point where he's often the Zoidberg of these friend groups. (e.g. "These are my close, fellow intellectuals, with bonds so strong we can outwit anyone with our like-minded, mighty brains! Oh and George is just there I guess." - The leading nerd Neville.)
- Downplayed:
- Jake and his friends find George annoying, but don't see any reason to dislike him.
- Jake and most of his friends dislike George, but Jim mildly enjoys his company.
- Jake and his friends get along with George, but don't consider him close.
- Justified:
- George is a Cloudcuckoolander and Jake and his friends are tired of keeping him from making stupid decisions.
- George is just a Jerkass to everyone, but the group wants to keep him around because he has some redeeming qualities.
- George is an arrogant, bullying Jerkass, but the group keeps him around, believing they would be no better than him if they kick him out.
- George is smart, yet in an arrogant fashion, and Jake and his friends know that they need his intellect in certain areas.
- George has a morally superior complex, but they grudgingly acknowledge that he keeps the group together with his condescending yet helpful advice.
- George is a Token Evil Teammate whom the heroes find him too evil to join. They keep him around because he's more willing to do the dirty work (i.e., kill the truly evil bad guys).
- George is a Token Good Teammate who's part of a group full of villains or Jerkasses who think he's too soft to be a true member. They only keep him around for two reasons, 1 is because they know him for so long, and 2 is because they want to appear as benevolent or nice, so they let George do most of the talking.
- George is a Rich Bastard or Spoiled Brat, but the group needs him because he covers their expenses out of his own pocket.
- George is a Jerkass, but he's also the The Chew Toy of the group and/or had a Hilariously Abusive Childhood, so they stay friends with him out of pity rather than kindness.
- George was Jake's Only Friend back before he grew up into The Leader. Jake keeps him around out of loyalty.
- George is a brutal, violent, and fearsome Anti-Hero. The group keeps him around out of fear of being bodily harmed by him if they don't.
- George is in the same class as Jake and his friends, so the group can't really get rid of him.
- George is Jake's Annoying Younger Sibling whose parents force Jake to let him hang out with his friends.
- George's attitude is the product of a very miserable life. Jake and his friends hang out with him because they feel sorry for him.
- George is the bassist of Jake's band. They keep him around simply because the band needs a bassist.
- George is incredibly boring. We are talking "suicide seems like an acceptable escape option" kind of boring, they keep him around for practical reasons, mainly just using his boring personality to verbally torture others with his generic attitude in order to give them information on things they want to know.
- George has a Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, but he has backstabbed his friends a lot less that he has backstabbed everybody else.
- George's friends keep him around so they can use him as a punching bag to make them feel better about themselves.
- To justify the above (though this can be a standalone one), Jake and Co. are fucking dickweeds.
- Inverted:
- George is a favorite among his friends.
- George is the only enemy that Jake and his friends like and respect.
- Despite hanging out with Jake and his group of friends a lot and maybe even calling them his friends, George hates them and wants nothing to do with them.
- George merely thinks he is this due to having zero self-esteem, and thinks that he comes off like a Jerkass. In reality, he has some kind of a dark horse status among the group, all of whom truly do care for and love him.
- Jake dislikes being around all of his friends with the exception of George.
- Subverted: George becomes less annoying and immature to his friends and they all grew fond of him...
- Double Subverted: But George was only playing a trick on them and they all dislike being around him all over again.
- Parodied: Jake and his friends groan loudly or start crying whenever George shows up.
- Zig Zagged: The only time the group take a liking for George is when he isn't mean or otherwise annoying, but on the other hand...
- Averted: The group show no disdain towards George.
- Enforced: George is a jerkish Ensemble Dark Horse who starts hanging out with the main characters because the meddling executives believe the audience want to see more of him.
- Lampshaded: "You all hate my guts, but you can't help but to enjoy my presence."
- Invoked: We first see George in a Terrible Interviewees Montage trying to join the team. Though he does some annoying things, we see the team suck it up and accept him because he has the qualifications, knowing he'll end up being disliked.
- Exploited:
- The villain attacks places George hates, knowing the rest of the group would never agree to go to places he likes.
- The villain decides to corrupt George, by offering a chance for him to get back at them.
- George intentionally isolated himself from the rest of the group to keep them at arm's length. Whatever mission he needs to accomplish requires that he be necessary enough to complete it, yet expendable enough for the team to disregard him should he die.
- Implied:
- Jake and everyone else say George's their friend, but tend to make excuses as to why he can't come when they all happen to be together at one time.
- When George shows up, looks of disgruntlement appear on Jake and the other's faces despite them saying he's their friend.
- Defied:
- Despite his flaws, the friends choose not to treat George with disdain.
- George acts less annoying to get on his friends' good sides.
- Alternatively, George ditches the group because their flaws make him look like a saint.
- To reverse the roles, the group kicks George out because they can't stand him anymore.
- George is turned into a friend everybody can like. The methods to do that may be extreme, though…
- Discussed:
- "George is one moronic, annoying jerk, but he's our moronic, annoying jerk."
- "You know, why do you keep George around? He clearly hates being with you as much as you hate being with him."
- Conversed:
- "You know, if I knew a guy like George, I'd stop hanging out with him. Maybe he's got a lot of money or something."
- "Yeesh. Don't know why these people continue to hang out with him, or why he chooses to hang out with them."
- Deconstructed:
- George doesn't feel as though his friends like him, so he leaves them in search for people that will treat him for how he is.
- Alternatively, George's friends hate him so much that they leave him.
- George ends up realizes the others do not like him, but for his own reasons, stays with them, bottling the anger and resentment. It eventually comes out and he gives them a "The Reason You Suck" Speech before leaving the group.
- Reconstructed:
- They then realize that, whether they like him or not, they miss his presence dearly.
- George is given a What the Hell, Hero? speech from one of his friends, and has a Jerkass Realization. He tries to be nicer, although he still has his moments of being an asshole.
- Alternatively, George IS a nice person, but can't stand around being with a pack of fucking maniacs and gives them a speech on the reasons they suck. They have their own JerkassRealizations, and try to be nicer.
- Played for Laughs:
- George is always late for whatever comedic shit's going on down, with an even more hilarious and comedic timing, just right after the action's done.
- He's a 4chan regular, but his constant 4chan memes are So Unfunny, It's Funny.
- Played for Drama:
- George turns heel because the villains accept him, unlike his so-called friends.
- George is a raving psychopath with advanced superpowers that nobody can counter, a very twitchy and violent temperament, and an extreme persecution complex who has blackmailed his way into the friend group. His "friends" know he's a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and can only pray they are spared his wrath when he inevitably explodes.
Why do we keep hanging out with The Friend Nobody Likes?
