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Here a wick check will be performed on Never Accepted in His Hometown.

Why?: As stated in Tropes Needing TRS, the IRL examples of this trope are related to Germans Love David Hasselhoff and Americans Hate Tingle, but it's not classified as YMMV. This wick check aims to see how many Real Life examples there are in order to determinate how viable it would be to split In-Universe and Real Life examples.

Wicks checked: 50/50

Potholes will be bolded.

Wicks total:

  • In-Universe examples: 54% (27/50)
  • Real Life examples: 26% (13/50)
  • Applies to both: 6% (3/50)
  • ZCE: 8% (4/50)
  • Unsure: 6% (3/50)

26% of Real Life examples. 26% of the total of 320 wicks means that around 82 wicks are real life examples, which would be enough to split into a healthy Real Life trope.


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    In-Universe examples (27/50) 
  1. Literature.TheWarWithLilliputians: In the beginning, Alice thinks that people are passing by her house in Moscow without knowing or caring that she lives there, and compares her situation to that of Christopher Columbus.
  2. Characters.SonOfTheSanninKonohagakure: His final act of taking on all seven of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist by himself is apparently very well known among the world at large, yet he appears to be all but forgotten in his home village. Sasuke, a Konoha native, has never even heard of the guy and doubts the validity of the story when Karui tells him.
  3. StrawmanHasAPoint.MarvelUniverse: Ultimate Spider-Man: Throughout the first two seasons, Peter Parker is often depicted as a jerk for wanting to work alone. While it's true that this incarnation of Spider-Man starts off as way more impulsive and dickish than usual, Spidey's arguments to defend himself are actually pretty valid. His new teammates and self-proclaimed "friends" are a bunch of jerkasses who frequently harass and disrespect him for little to no reason at all, force themselves into his life without any consent from his part, and know much more about him than he does about them. And that's not forgetting about Nick Fury, who for all his claims to be a responsible authority figure, has little to no respect for his recruit's privacy and promises (he placed security cameras in his house, and their initial agreement clearly stated that Peter doesn't need to work in a team if he doesn't want to). Therefore, Spider-Man has no actual reason to trust any of them, completely ruining any lessons about the positives of working in a team. This comes up again in "The Incredible Spider-Hulk" where Fury dismisses Spidey's complaints about his PR problem as just immature whining when it's clear that Jameson constantly berating him has truly begun to affect his ability to fight crime.
  4. Characters.PillarsOfEternityPartyMembers: His first spiritform, an orange-furred Autumn Stelgaer, is believed to devour souls by his home druid circle. Even though he can take other forms, and never actually did anything of the sort, they cast him out, never to return. In his Galawain ending, he returns home and humiliates all his tribal elders in combat, forcing them to recognize him as a member of the tribe... and then leaves on his wanderings all over again, having proven his point.
  5. The Runaway: This trope so heavily overlaps with Starting a New Life that they're almost inextricably linked. Especially in the case of the Circus, Abused, Orphan, and Vagrant runaways, their plan is usually to start living in a different place, often as a different person. In the cases of the second and third types it can also involve not being able to return home. For the most part, all six runaway types can also overlap with Never Accepted in His Hometown.
  6. Characters.CodexEquusTrimortidae: The residents of his hometown, Grayvale, never forgot how he played a role in Arabus and Zeb stealing their shadows. When he had to go back home to help the heroes locate Arabus' lair, the people of Grayvale formed a lynch mob in reaction to his presence, and would've killed him had his mother not intervened and shamed them into dispersing. After he helps return their shadows and restore Grayvale back to Sunny Valley, they forgive him, causing him to break down crying.
  7. Characters.TheVirtueOfRevenge: After becoming Titan, one of Jump City's beloved heroes, he tries to mend things with his family. They're ultimately unable to stomach his sexual orientation, and both parties sadly conclude it would be best to cut ties.
  8. Characters.HorizonZeroDawnAloy: Throughout her life, with only a few exceptions, the Nora scorned and shunned her for really no crime other than being born. It isn't until her origin is revealed that the Nora accept her, though insofar as they view her as their messiah, though she notes that's not the same as true acceptance. Ironically, she manages to earn the adoration and respect of nearly every other tribe in the setting, including the normally haughty Carja, and proud Tenakth.
  9. Characters.MagiaRecordFolkloreOfZero: The members of Folklore all come from Yukuni City, a city where magical girls are considered to be evil monstrosities that make people suffer, those who are revealed to be magical girls are driven out of the city via torment and even abuse. Things only got even worse in Yukuni after the truth regarding witches become wide-spread knowledge, as the city's inhabitants started considering magical girls and witches no different, and even started theorising that magical girls and witches were actively colluding with one another.
  10. Characters.TheAllianceAlive: The citizens of Gearsrock don't see the potential of exploring other realms, or any science that doesn't have an obvious practical use.
  11. Characters.FriendshipIsMagicSpike: Spike's a Butt-Monkey in Ponyville, but in the Crystal Empire, he's the most admired and respected hero.
  12. Literature.Run: Bo, Colt, and all the Dickinsons are hated by everyone else in Mursey for being no-good white trash drug-dealing vagabond. Bo and Colt also seem to be the only good ones in the family.
  13. VideoGame.TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast: He has to avoid being noticed while traveling through his native village of Kakariko because the townspeople are convinced that he's the villain who has abducted their beloved Princess Zelda. The hero's bad rep stems from some nasty public relations from the Big Bad's minions.
  14. Characters.DragonAgeOriginsPlayableCharactersTheWarden: Except for the Dalish Elf, each Warden initially suffers this as a result of their respective Origin. The Human Noble's home was seized by Arl Howe, the Dwarf Noble was exiled from Orzammar, the City Elf and the Dwarf Commoner were wanted criminals in Denerim and Orzammar respectively, and Templars are not particularly thrilled to see the Mage Warden again.
  15. Characters.ShadowRaiders: Thanks to Lord Mantle exiling him from Rock. Jade's first act as ruler is to publicly restore Graveheart's citizenship and rights.
  16. HeroWithBadPublicity.MarvelUniverse: This is exaggerated in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) where Jameson's smear campaign is not only more effective, but less deserved as he's become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and has never egged-on JJ, thus giving less credence to it. The beginning of Season 3 finally averts this. Spidey joining and becoming a successful Avenger results in the general populace of New York loving him.
  17. Fanfic.RainbowInTheDark: The Mane Six barely have any recognition in Ponyville but they're famous all over Equestria.
  18. Flanderization.WesternAnimation: Ultimate Spider-Man has one in J. Jonah Jameson. In most versions he's simply a somewhat jerky newspaper man with a somewhat justified hatred to Spider-Man. Here all he does is go on for hours on various Bugle Jumbotrons about what a menace Spider-Man is despite knowing full well that he's now working for S.H.I.E.L.D. It's also shown that his negative PR campaign is working better then normal and has turned almost the whole city against him.
  19. Characters.AnimeCrimesDivision: Her backstory. She was born and brought up in Prestige TV City and was one of the very few Otaku there. She moved to Neo Otaku City in order to be among like-minded people and gain acceptance from the community her heart belongs to. This is why she is so hell-bent on solving the case of the serial killer in Season 2 despite odds being stacked against her.
  20. Characters.Hundred: Emilia grew up in ostracisation because her mother was from Wenz, which had a poor relationship with Gudenburg. Understandably, she's not too eager to go back to her homeland.
  21. Literature.TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy: The tiny village of Shady Vale apparently managed to miss the fact that a Third War of the Races was fought that summer. When Shea and Flick make it back home, their father shows absolutely no knowledge of the fact that his biological son saved the life of the Elven King or that his adoptive son killed the most evil wizard in recorded history. All he has to say is "You boys have been acting strange since you got back from that hunting trip in Leah."
  22. Characters.TwinPeaksResidents: His backstory as described in The Secret History of Twin Peaks has clear shades of it. In his youth, he was viewed by the Twin Peaks community as a drunken troublemaker, who lived in squalor and was quite the embarrassment to his family. After moving out from the town and joining the army, things started to look immensely up for him, as over the next two-and-a-half decades he rose through the ranks and became heavily involved with the Government Conspiracy. When he moved back to Twin Peaks in his older years, he once again became a bit of an outsider, although in a significantly more benign sense; by that time most townspeople had forgotten the tarnished reputation he had in his youth, and so instead came to see him as a rich, harmless eccentric. But he would prove to still be a bit of an embarrassment to his family, as with his new fortune, he started indulging in spendthrift behavior and went through several short-lived marriages with women much younger than him, which was seen as been at odds with not only his brother's, but most Twin Peaks citizen's more modest and straight-laced lifestyle.
  23. Literature.TheCavesOfSteel: Robots were created, developed and mass produced right on Earth almost three thousand years before the beginning of the novel. They were integral in the technological revolution that lead to space-travel, food for the whole planet and world peace, but they were never accepted into Earth society and were completely banned from the planet soon after their creation. It is only through the direct intervention of the Spacers, who have completely integrated robots into their way of life, that they are even beginning to merge with the Earthlings.
  24. Characters.TheSecretsOfTheImmortalNicholasFlamel: She may be the Warrior Maid, the Shadow, the Kingmaker, but to her Elder family, she's just that annoying little girl who still plays with humans.
  25. Music.PoodleHat: Germans Love David Hasselhoff: In-Universe, "Genius in France" is about a Straw Loser who was Never Accepted in His Hometown but finds himself inexplicably beloved by the population of France.
  26. Literature.StarfleetCorpsOfEngineers: P8 Blue, who is a perfect ambassador for the Nasat people (friendly, intelligent, kind, brave, humorous) is actually an outcast on the Nasat homeworld.
  27. Characters.WarcraftTheAllianceQuelThalas: Despite being a living legend of Quel'Thalas, she's not accepted in her town for her newfound powers. That and she chose to stay loyal to the Alliance, because of her hatred of the orcs.
    Real Life examples (13/50) 
  1. Americans Hate Tingle: By definition, this is a subtrope of Base-Breaking Character. Compare Pop-Culture Isolation. Contrast Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales, American Kirby Is Hardcore, and its polar opposites, Germans Love David Hasselhoff and Never Accepted in His Hometown.
  2. UsefulNotes.Hinduism: Vaishnavism (Path of Vishnu) - These ones believe that Vishnu is the Supreme Godhead. The closest thing to a mainstream that Hinduism has got, it's the most widely followed path - largely since it's easily accessible and generally non-ascetic. Easily recognizable by the vertical ash-mark on the foreheads of its disciples. The Hare Krishnas in the West are an outgrowth of these guys. In India, the ''Hare Krishnas'' are seen as loony bins by pretty much everyone.
  3. Main.SlobsVersusSnobs: In mainstream Mexican Lucha, this describes the rivalry between AAA and CMLL. Triple A has drawn the largest crowds on record in Mexico and in all of North America the only promotion to successfully out draw it is WWE. CMLL meanwhile typically draws smaller crowds but boasts the highest at the gate draws as far as revenue is concerned in the nation's history, WWE again being the only company on the continent that comes close.note  CMLL is the comparatively more serious of the two, its angles being much more down-to-earth and its presentation as a sport more formal, while AAA has had angles involving murder by volcano and lots of over-the-top Gimmick Matches involving ladders or referee shenanigans. CMLL is also slightly more family-friendly, as blood is shed less frequently as a consequence of its more subdued gimmick matches and increasingly few of the matches it has that do feature bloodshed have aired on its TV program unedited. Before AAA, the same could be said of EMLL and LLI/UWA, except those promotions got along much better.
  4. ValuesDissonance.OtherMedia: Professional Gaming has been treated as a legitimate professional enterprise in South Korea since the 1990snote , in stark contrast to much of the western world, where it was only treated as a fringe endeavor that only began gaining increasing legitimacy in The New '10s. As a result, Korea has a much more robust infrastructure to maintain integrity in the scene, and they also have a much harsher cultural attitude towards cheaters. While elsewhere, matchfixing and elo-boosting scandals are likely to dampen professional reputations (at most, earning a ban from the scene in question), it's treated as a severe show of moral failing with much broader legal repercussions in Korea, not just among professional gamers — some, including former Starcraft II champion Lee "Life" Seung Hyun, faced extended jail time for matchfixing — but even politicans — such as Ryu Ho-jung, a heavy nominee to represent the Justice Party in the 2020 Korean National Assembly, had her reputation significantly dented after political opponents uncovered a history of account-sharing in League of Legends years prior. The dissonance is most apparent regarding international leagues where Korea is not the main authority — in the Overwatch League, Su-min "SADO" Kim, was suspended for about 75% of the league's inaugural season following allegations of account-boosting, a punishment that drew outrage from Korean audiences and other Korean league players, as it was almost universally believed it should have been much more severe.
  5. NoExportForYou.Music: Jason Donovan's first album was the only album of his released in the USA, while both his first and second albums were released in Canada, but due to his unpopularity in North America, the rest of his albums were only exclusive to Europe and Asia.
  6. VindicatedByHistory.LiveActionFilms: Akira Kurosawa, up until his death, was far more popular and acclaimed in the West than in Japan and was even accused by Japanese film critics of being "too Western". When Dodes'ka-den bombed in 1970, most of his small amount of Japanese popularity and acclaim vanished completely, and he was considered to be a hack whose Western acclaim was dismissed by Japanese critics as mere exotica and overrating by their American counterparts. After his death, his Japanese reputation increased dramatically.
  7. YMMV.TheVillainess: Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Despite its positive reception at Cannes, it didn't go win over Korean audiences as they found it "you run-of-the-mill, average cliched action movie with melodramatic plot." However, it garnered positive reviews in the US and became somewhat a Cult Classic among action junkies. In fact, this is one of the reasons why the director's next movie will be his Hollywood debut.
  8. Music.TheOutfield:
    • A real-life example with the band's success. They never had a hit in their native Britain, but had quite a few hits in the U.S. The fact that "Your Love" is the only song of theirs that still receives radio airplay doesn't help.
    • Averted with "Stranger in My Own Town", which is actually not what the title refers to; the narrator is lamenting about how horrible his home town has become.
  9. GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff.Food: Wimpy is a hamburger chain (named after the character from Popeye) founded in 1934 in the United States and became very popular in the UK and especially South Africa, whose locals love them so much that it's now headquartered there in Johannesburg. By 1978 though, Wimpy had become obscure in the United States and, without anyone willing to take over American operations after the founder's death, disappeared from the US completely.
  10. OneHitWonder.ElectronicDance: Robin S, in her native USA, only had one Top 10 hit on the Hot 100, "Show Me Love"(not to be confused with Robyn's 1997 hit), which peaked at #5 with its 1993 remix by Stonebridge. Her follow-up, "Luv 4 Luv", reached #7 in Belgium and #4 in the Netherlands, but stalled out at #53 in the US and is mostly forgotten there.
  11. UsefulNotes.Brazil: One of the most famous and prolific musicians is Sergio Mendes, along with his band Brasil 66. In other countries, anyway. In Brazil he's nearly unknown, except to music critics and scholars.
  12. Literature.ADogOfFlanders: On a meta level. The book was written by a British author and takes place in Belgium, but in both countries the novel fell into obscurity; only in Japan is it a widely-beloved classic.
  13. Music.TracyChapman: Her fan base is, or at least was initially, mostly white. She has been disparaged by other black musicians, such as Chuck D, for her choice of genre.
    Both (3/50) 
  1. Film.DoctorZhivago: Zhivago isn't appreciated until after he dies.
    • This parallels Pasternak himself, whose book was originally banned in the Soviet Union. As noted, this is both an in-universe and IRL example, so I'm not sure how to classify it.
  2. Cultural Cringe: Never Accepted in His Hometown may also contain elements of this. Contrast Cultural Posturing. Applies to both.
  3. Like a Duck Takes to Water: Compare Instant Expert and Never Accepted in His Hometown. Contrast Fish out of Water and Graceful in Their Element. Applies to both.
    ZCE (4/50) 
  1. Fanfic.TotalDramaTweenTour: Pandora's bio states this.
  2. Characters.FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance: Cid notes that the Nu Mou consider him "an eccentric loony."
  3. Fridge.Crysis: A prophet receives no honor in his own country. Prophet gets back to the US, and CELL tries to hunt him down.
  4. Series.TheChosenTVSeries: Episode 3 of Season 3 revolves nearly entirely around this trope. Which makes sense, since Jesus is, you know, the Trope Maker.
    Unsure (3/50) 
  1. Characters.DestripandoLaHistoria: The Greeks feared him for being the God of War, but he was beloved by the Romans, even making him an important part of their lore. This is about Ares/Mars. Since it's Greek/Roman mythology, unsure how to classify this one.
  2. Series.TheVietnamWar: Many American soldiers dealt with this when returning home. Karl Marlantes recalls having to wind his way through a hostile mob of protesters after arriving home, and also mentions that having been a Vietnam Vet was such a Mark of Shame that he didn't find out a close friend was also a veteran until after they had known each other for over a decade. African-American soldiers had the added burden of facing racism, and not just in the South: Roger Harris wasn't able to get a taxi ride back to his home in the predominantly Black Roxbury section of Boston until a police officer forced a taxi driver to take him. Documentary about real life. This isn't a real life case about an artist or creator of some kind. Unsure how to classify it.
  3. Characters.Canadas Drag Race Season 1: The first and so far only Bahamian rep in the franchise. She left her home in the capital of Nassau to seek asylum in Canada, due to the nation’s far more progressive attitudes towards sexuality. Unsure how to classify this. It's a Real Life example, but it doesn't mention anything regarding real-life popularity of the creator/artist in question.

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