This example under Doctor Who seems arguable:
- Then there's The Doctor himself. His own people hate him most of the time. There are star systems that want him dead, and not just his mortal enemies like the Cybermen or Daleks. Even people he's saved have no love for the poor guy. Queen Victoria knighted him and exiled him all at once. And helped fund Torchwood, which originally considered him public enemy number one. Of course, being the titular character of the world's longest running sci-fi show, he's beloved by fans around the world, in any of his many, many incarnations. Although it must be noted that he also does have a lot of loyal friends and companions who clearly think the world of him and, in at least one episode, when a distress signal was sent out summoning summoning his allies and supporters to his aide, half the universe showed up.
The example itself has a justifying edit noting that he's got plenty of friends in-universe, which seems quite contrary to the nature of the trope. It seems like a bit of a stretch.
Our Favorite Cowgirl, er, Mare
Would Grover from Sesame Street be considered an Unpopular Popular Character? The audience loves him, but the other Muppets can't seem to stand him. For example, he keeps trying to sell Kermit things that he cannot use.
I like to keep my audience riveted.
In the Invader Zim example below, Dib is cited as the 3rd or 4th most popular character...on a show with only 4 main characters. That's kind of a meaningless distinction, isn't it? I'm not arguing against Dib qualifying for the trope (he absolutely does), but the way the entry is written is kinda like saying "George Harrison is loved by fans as the 3rd or 4th most popular Beatle."
Since this trope evokes sympathy by having a character not be popular, is it a subtrope of This Loser Is You? As in, it's basically the last part of "Like this character, we assume you're stupid, weak, and no one likes you?" Is that worth mentioning?
I think Starscream could count as an unpopular popular character as a whole. Most of the time in most iterations, he's usually hated by all the decepticons in universe, often treated as a joke by both factions, constantly demeaned and his betrayal attempts often ends in disaster for him. Meanwhile, out universe, Starscream is one of the most famous and beloved transformer of all time, even managing to get a trope named after him and infamously being known for attracting lots of fangirls.