"They Wasted A Perfectly Good Character" Cleanup

With the Seteth and Flayn, I think it could be reworded a bit, but honestly, I get the point that they don't really have much of an arc aside from generic supports in Silver Snow, since there was a lot of missed opportunity for them as leads.

It's less that they have a role, and more that their characters weren't fully explored in the same way, the house leaders are.

Edited by RedHunter543 on Dec 27th 2021 at 9:11:44 AM

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

I'm for cutting the entries on The Ghost characters, the clothes, and Jerald.

I'm for leaving in (if perhaps with rewrites) the entry on Sothis. She's pivotal to the game's backstory, but vanishes before she has to actually deal with any of that history. She should be a major, complex character in her own right, not a voice that occasionally makes snarky comments to Byleth. And I could write a whole essay on why I didn't like the way the game handled her character, especially with her S-rank event.

Nach jeder Ebbe kommt die Flut.

Her S-rank is great for the memes.

But yeah, I like Sothis and I really wish we could have heard her commentary on the House leaders and her own children.

I was really interested in the mystery of why she seems afraid of them, and she even loses points if you tell Rhea about her.

But nope. This is definitely a qualifier for the trope.

Edited by RedHunter543 on Dec 27th 2021 at 10:25:06 AM

I'll teach you a lesson about just how cruel the world can be. That's my job, as an adult.

The Ionius entry should go. It reads too much like "The story didn't go the way I want it to!" (which is the sort of thinking that got the "They Wasted..." audience reactions put into these project threads in the first place) and while Ionius is supposed to be an important character in the Empire's backstory, he was never meant to be anything more than a minor character in the main story itself.

Edited by dragonfire5000 on Dec 27th 2021 at 9:11:01 AM

I think the entry for Those Who Slither in the dark should stay. The fact that they're dealt with only a single chapter after defeating Edelgard, when defeating Edelgard takes between 6-9 chapters depending on the route, is a pretty poor showing. It would be easy to give them like a short arc of three chapters or something to make them feel less rushed. It's saying something when the only route to have more than one part 2 map where a Slitherer is the end boss is also the route where the plot completely forgets about them. Like seriously, AM, due to having both a Corneia map and a Thales map, technically has more Slitherer maps than the routes where they are supposed to be actual main antagonists.

Edited by Druplesnubb on Dec 27th 2021 at 6:48:13 PM

Is there any feedback on what to do with these entries?

From YMMV.RWBY

Edited by Wyldchyld on Jan 4th 2022 at 12:23:53 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

This entry in Dune (2021) seems all over the place. Either the character is wasted or they aren't .

• Zigzagged, and ultimately subverted, by Liet Kynes, the imperial ecologist.
  • Whilst the portrayal of the character by Sharon Duncan-Brewster is strong/accurate enough to silence most critics of the role being both race and gender-swapped, the writing and direction often conspire to make the already complex character of Kynes even more opaque, resulting in audiences being confused about her status as one of the Fremen, her role in the Imperium and what her motives, loyalties and goals actually were - whenever Paul asks a question about her relationship to the Fremen, she either dodges the question by giving noncommital or evasive answers, or simply doesn't speak at all. There's also zero mention of her being Chani's parent, as in the book, even though the casting of both seemed like this was purposely being emphasized, making it unclear whether this was Adapted Out or will be resolved in the sequel. Whilst it doubtless adds to the character's mystique, it has been repeatedly cited as confusing by non-fans.
  • On the other hand, her death scene - in which she summons a sandworm to her location, is blindsided and mortally wounded, and then stoically allows herself to be eaten by the worm along with her attackers - is considered one of the highlights in a movie full of cool moments, and her characterisation ultimately fits with the film's attempt to walk a fine line between blurting out exposition and allowing audiences to intuit key details for themselves based on cinematic language.

We don't sweep with a broom, no~

YMMV can't be played with, so cut it on those grounds alone.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢

Will do

We don't sweep with a broom, no~

Concerning the RWBY entries:

• I'm not sure either concerning Ruby's entry. I am leaning towards cutting it.

• For Adam's entry, I agree that it's more the Fantastic Racism storyline being badly handled. I think you can cut it.

• You can cut Penny's entry.

• For Cinder vs Ruby, I agree that it doesn't feels like TWAPGP, so you can cut it. Not sure if we have an appropriate Audience Reactions where we could move it.

• Not sure about Oscar's entry. We don't see Oscar thinking about it, which could have been interesting, but even then I'm not sure it fits. At the very least, it needs a rewrite to acknowledge that it helped the development of team JNR.

This is from The Simpsons S13 E1 "Treehouse of Horror XII":

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Surprisingly, "Hex and the City" is not a parody of Stephen King's Thinner, despite the latter's very Simpsons Treehouse of Horror-sounding premise (i.e. Gypsy curses evil obese man to waste away regardless of how much he eats, he gets away from it by hurting the Gypsy with his mob connections, then causes a Cruel Twist Ending with his own stupidity). The movie adaptation actually came out only five years before the episode.
  • For that matter, the no adaptation of King stories besides The Shining in Treehouse of Horror V at the time of this episode (later on, Treehouse of Horror XV parodied The Dead Zone, XXVIII did a loose take on the obscure short story Survivor Type, and the comics parodied Carrie).
  • "Wiz Kids" (the Harry Potter parody) could have been its own "imaginary tale/non-canon" episode rather than a short, Shallow Parody.

These strike me as "I wish the story was different" and not "Good idea that wasn't properly explored".

From Danny Phantom, put into folders because there is a lot.

A lot of it reads as complaining or not liking the direction the show went.

Edited by Rhonin on Jan 10th 2022 at 9:24:24 PM

I found this on An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn:

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The film within a film, Trio, actually sounds like it could have been a fun romp regardless of what Alan Smithee thought about it in-universe. Who wouldn't want to see a Badass Crew consisting of Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, and Whoopi Goldberg? That being said, this could easily have been the intention, as it could be seen as a commentary of how real life audiences will go to see a terrible movie because it has big named stars attached, and that people who feel Trio might have worked better as an actual film due to the casting, with no idea of what the story of the film within the film is like, may have comically missed the point. This entry argues with itself. I could see this as valid because I'm sure there are people who would want to see an action movie with Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, and Whoopi Goldberg.
  • The film itself could've made for a genuinely good satire of the film industry in the hands of a more competent production team. This is less "plot was wasted" and more "final product wasn't that good".

Edited by RustBeard on Jan 25th 2022 at 10:47:41 AM

I want to bring up two examples from My Hero Academia for a second opinion regarding these.

• Magne is a Transgender villain with a unique quirk and a backstory that would explain why she fits in well with the other social outcasts of the League of Villains and potentially explore transphobia in a world full of Quirks. Unfortunately, she ends up being the first named character to die outside of a flashback, and is denied the opportunity for a Quirk powerup or additional backstory that the other members got in the Meta Liberation Army arc. This part comes off more as wishing for an alternative storyline rather than the character actually being underutilized for the role they possessed. For context she and the rest of the Vanguard Action Squad served as the main antagonists of the Forest Training Camp arc. And as apart of the League she appeared as an antagonist in the Hideout Raid arc. While she died in the next arc, she was still around long enough that it doesn't really feel like she was underutilized here. The part where it says that she was "denied" the opportunity for a Quirk powerup or additional backstory sounds like blatant "I wanted something different" misuse since the wording implies that she shouldn't have died and that she would've gotten those things if she lived.
• Star and Stripe is America's #1 Hero and an admirer of All Might with a standout design and Quirk, but suffers from a very late introduction to the series and is killed off via Heroic Sacrifice a few chapters later. This one suffers from the problem that the event this entry is alluding to happened rather recently, for context at the time of writing we aren't even passed ten chapters after her death. In other words the storyline is still ongoing so it seems like jumping the gun to say the character was wasted.

I'm personally leaning towards cutting both of these but I wanted to get some second thoughts on this from anyone here.

I want to bring up the examples of the Avatar series from the TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter.Western Animation page.

All in all a lot of them mostly talk about how a character doesn't show up that much or that we don't learn about them, and not so much about what makes them noteworthy in the first place. Even if the characters count, I think most of the entries could use a bit of a rewrite, but I want to know what the thread thinks.

EDIT: To clarify by "bias" I meant along the lines of shoe-horning any time a "wrong-doing" is done to a character, that's where the Bart/Meg/Squidward etc comparison came from, but the "gushing" part is something different I haven't seen with any of those specific characters.

Edited by greatpikminfan on Jan 30th 2022 at 3:47:13 AM

I write stories about naked people beating demons, gods, and eldritch horrors.

Okay, are there any further thoughts on my RWBY post above? (I've reposted here.)

From YMMV.RWBY

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

I found these under YMMV.The Fairly Odd Parents Fairly Odder

• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: There are several better ways a Sequel Series to Fairly Oddparents could be done.
  • Channel Chasers has an ending with Timmy having his own two children. Like his parents, Timmy neglects them, gives them a terrible babysitter ^note a robot version of Vicky, and both kids have Cosmo and Wanda as their godparents. They could've been the subject of a Sequel Series.
  • Viv's story could be made a lot more dramatic: her new stepfamily could be just as cruel to her as Vicky was to Timmy, thus giving Viv a good reason to have fairies. This mirrors Timmy's situation while making Viv a unique character with her own unique challenges rather than just a copy of Timmy's life. Timmy could've made a cameo, but as a clueless adult who no longer remembers his fairies.

The series hasn't even been released yet, and I'm seeing some huge misuse on the page, being "here's a plot that would've been better than the actual show"

Edited by PlasmaPower on Mar 5th 2022 at 12:10:18 PM

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!

Yeah, and the first one is particularly bad because it's extremely obvious by now that Nick doesn't want to acknowledge the ending of Channel Chasers as being canon.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Any feedback on the RWBY entries?

Edited to add: Okay, I've cut them on the basis of the feedback I've received previously. I've taken the one plot example to the Plot clean-up thread now that it has one.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Apr 29th 2022 at 10:42:02 AM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.

Two questions. Does TWAPGC apply if:

• They had enough screentime/big enough role to not be this but get Demoted to Extra or Out of Focus afterwards? (Do they only count during the afterwards, or not as their having adequate role screentime/role means the afterwards is complaints against handling instead?)
• If they get a larger role later but it loses/doesn't address what made them Wasted what then? (Do we just not include the later role or is it worth mentioning? Or does it mean they retroactively no longer count as Wasted?)
• If they get a bigger role afterward such they no longer count, do they retroactively no longer count or do we note when they counted? (And how long do we give to say they're underused? End of Season/Arc? Long enough that their return can be assumed an after the fact fix?

Relating, these from TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter.My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic:

Thoughts? How many/what precent of episodes do they have to have a major role in to disqualify from TWAPGC?

I have this proposed addition:

• Sugar Belle, Party Favor, Night Glider, and Double Diamond in Season 5 premier were the only members of Starlight Glimmer's cult with full characterization, interaction with the Mane Six and Starlight, and played an equal if not greater role in saving the day than the heroes, suggesting they would become major characters. But they only had a few minor appearances by the Season 6 finale, never explaining what they went through that would make them want to join Starlight's cult, how/why the former three wished to rebel against it unlike the others and Double Diamond became Starlight's right-hand pony, or why they immediately forgave Starlight despite everything she did which could have addressed criticisms of Starlight's redemption and wasted potential as a villain. Afterwards only Sugar Belle would get a prominent role as Big Macintosh's Love Interest, but still never got a chance to be fleshed out, while the rest were limited to cameos. Night Glider got this the hardest as she never get to show unique talents, personality, or hints of backstory like the others or or even being named in work.

Should the last sentence about Night Glider be cut as complaining about not having character to waste? And is Sugar Belle's later big role disqualify her/should the complaints about it still not addressing her wasted potential be axed?

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on May 1st 2022 at 3:13:24 AM

So, these are two entries on Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

• Some have said that Doma, being a cult leader and having a very entertaining personality, would have served extremely well in a standalone arc that involves the demon slayers investigating a mysterious cult. As is, he just gets a brief fight against Kanao and Inosuke, being bunched into the final arc like the rest of the remaining Upper Ranks. Unsure on this one. The part about the demon slayers investigating a mysterious cult sounds pretty fanfic-y, but could "Doma could've served as his own arc villain instead of being lumped in with the other demon moons" count as this?
• There are fans who view Tengen Uzui's remaining brother as this, being given a unique design and interesting backstory during his very brief appearance in Tengen's flashback. He is also described as having no humanity remaining, giving some the impression that he would return later on as a demon, a ninja demon. The fact that the new Upper Rank-5 who replaced Gyokko was never revealed only fuels this, as some speculated it would be revealed as Tengen's brother at some point. There was even a potential set-up in the final arc for the two to meet again if that were the case; Tengen protected the vulnerable Kiriya during the events of the final battle and many had hoped the new Upper Rank would finally show up to make an attempt on his life, and Tengen's brother being that demon would've brought his story full-circle, facing and ending the monster that he could've become under his father's influence. But neither plot point involving the brother or the new Upper Rank were ever addressed after their initial mention, leaving fans disappointed. The second fan book finally sheds some light on what happened to Tengen's brother, revealing that there was an incident where Uzui seriously contemplated killing him and their father, but ultimately did not have the heart to go through with it. Seems too fanfic-y to count as a legitimate instance of this.

I’m gonna put some Gloom in your eye.

I have three examples from the YMMV page of Young Justice 2010.

• Zatanna in her own arc. This arc had five episodes to try and provide Zatanna, the first Guest-Star Party Member and The Sixth Ranger to join The Team after Artemis before joining the Justice League, with more characterization and insight on her daily life. Instead, the arc focuses mainly on her training three proteges and the conflict between Child and Klarion. The only other sub-plots are the narrated flashbacks solely to provide exposition, and Gar's downspiraling depression. Even during that, Zatanna is a rather bland mentor figure whose quirks from the early seasons have vanished, she leaves pretty much all the fighting to Dr. Fate and her proteges and nothing for her own benefit happens until the last episode where she convinces Nabu to alternate hosts, freeing her father from his control. This one first off seems to miss the point of the trope where it's about a character not getting the screentime you think they deserve where instead this one complains about Zatana's portrayal. About how she's a "bland mentor figure" and "doesn't have the traits she previously possessed" when that's not really the point of the trope. Also it weirdly complains about her leaving the fighting to others, because supporting roles in battle don't exist?
• Zatanna's proteges in general: Mary Bromfield, Traci Thurston and Khalid Nassour. They don't get to utilize their powers so much through the whole arc or do a lot of fighting. Heck a whole episode is dedicated to the them fighting... their own doubts, insecurities and problems. This one feels bizarre, it complains about, of so things, them not utilizing powers or fighting... and then go on to complain about how an entire episode is about them fighting their own doubts, insecurities and problems. So this part is basically complaining about how they actually got focus.
• Kaldur arguably gets it worse than Zatanna in Act 4. His character arc is supposed to be about no longer carrying the weight of everything on his own shoulders and giving himself time to focus on his own emotional health and properly deal with his past traumas. However, the majority of the arc is taken up with Atlantean politics, with none of the character balance that came when Act 1 focused on Martian politics. King Orin is arguably the true lead of the arc as he drives most of the plot and Kaldur has so little agency that his role in resolving the conflict is completely accidental. Kaldur's relationships with his husband and parents don't get any in-depth exploration and his emotional breakdown over the loss of his friends occurs literally during the credits of his last episode. This part is probably the least complainy out of all of them but not really better. It feels like it meanders without having much of an actual point about how the character didn't get the screentime they deserved until near the end.

I think the first two are unsalvageable and should be removed since they're just complaining but I think the Kaldur one might be salvageable if given a complete rewrite focusing on lack of screentime over anything else. Does anyone have any thoughts?

From Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness:

• White Vision from WandaVision ended up flying away after regaining all of his memories, setting up a possible reunion with Wanda later down the road. The film doesn't even allude to him, with Wanda's focus entirely on her children. Of course it is still possible for them to meet again later (if Wanda returns of course). On a related note, the alternate Wanda is living a comfortable suburban life with Billy and Tommy, but no mention is made of their Vision either.

Can he count if he wasn't in the work?

Bit late to the party, but no, a character can't count for TWAPGC if they aren't even mentioned/acknowledged in the work.

According to the definition of the trope: "this trope is about ignored characters with good potential who never receive the spotlight (or do so just once and then get removed or forgotten). It is not about leading characters who are not used the way you would like; there are infinite alternative ways any given character could have been used. It is not either about characters who have a limited or supporting role in one work but have leading roles elsewhere in the franchise, that's a Hero of Another Story."

In this case, several characters on the Game of Thrones page don't fit here, as several of them were main characters or had their moment to shine throughout the series.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter/GameOfThrones