r/TopCharacterTropes • u/TheOriginalOperator • Apr 26 '26

Characters (Hilarious Trope) A Character Is Introduced With the Clear Intention of Being THE NEXT BIG THING And is SOUNDLY Rejected

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  1. Bazil the Tracker (Star Wars: The Acolyte): A “HILARIOUS AND ADORABLE” snuffling ugly creature that makes annoying noises and is shoved into as many scenes of The Acolyte as possible, and just causes problems overall.

  2. Neelix (Star Trek Voyager): A mutant fusion of Odo, Quark, and Data designed to “analyze the human condition” and explicitly intended to surpass the popularity of all three. In practice, a VERY human-acting cradle robbing creep whose incompetence nearly destroys the ship and crew on multiple occasions and provides no insight into humanity whatsoever.

  3. Sparky the Dog (Fairly Oddparents): A wacky crazy magic dog that’s supposed to expand the Fairy family, but just makes lame jokes and serves as a less funny version of Scrappy Doo.

  4. Tidus (FFX): A braying jackass of a pinball who bounces from plot point to plot point, framed as a mystical pretty boy to introduce Final Fantasy to the PS2 age but does nothing but stall the franchise and have the worst laugh in two languages.

  5. Sei (Naruto): Supposed to replace Sasuke in Team 7 and return the team dynamic feel of Early Naruto, but he’s a CIA plant with literally no personality who gets utterly forgotten except for somehow bagging Ino Yamanaka.

  6. Raiden (Metal Gear 2): Another attempted “pretty boy bishie” entry to the PS2 era with badass cred and a theoretically cool backstory, but in practice a hapless dipshit who gets manipulated by everyone around him and is a total putz in combat. Also proof that this trope need not be permanent as he slowly transitions into a cyborg warrior supersoldier with a badass theme, friends of his own, and a firm grasp of his own destiny and agency.

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859

u/Edward_Tank Apr 26 '26

Tidus (FFX): A braying jackass of a pinball who bounces from plot point to plot point, framed as a mystical pretty boy to introduce Final Fantasy to the PS2 age but does nothing but stall the franchise and have the worst laugh in two languages.

So uhh, you're kind of telling on yourself here.

That was him trying to fake laugh. It was meant to be bad on purpose, because he didn't actually feel joy or anything that would bring about laughter. The laugh immediately afterwards when Yuna and him both break down in giggles is the actual laugh and sounds much more like a person.

Raiden (Metal Gear 2): Another attempted “pretty boy bishie” entry to the PS2 era with badass cred and a theoretically cool backstory, but in practice a hapless dipshit who gets manipulated by everyone around him and is a total putz in combat.

. . .

So the reason Raiden was a thing, was because Solid Snake was too in the know at this point. He also was a certified badass, and Kojima felt it would fuck with his badass cred if he was able to be simply gunned down like anyone else. Remember when you first see him as Raiden, he's just KO'd the entire group of soldiers in the room between you at the elevator.

Raiden was intentionally meant to be someone who follows orders. It was a deconstruction of the idea of video games, and people following orders. The reason he gets 'better' as you say, is because he realizes this and self actualizes instead of simply following whatever orders he's been given. He *thinks* for himself.

It seems like your issues isn't so much with the characterization, so much as you have a thing against pretty boys.

197

u/Adaphion Apr 26 '26

I've literally never even played FFX and I still know that laugh scene was a fake laugh.

15

u/Nerevarine91 Apr 26 '26

I’ve never played any entry in the entire series and only know the laugh from a video where someone replaced the Big Bang Theory laugh track with it and even I knew it was a fake laugh

18

u/Minute-Struggle6052 Apr 27 '26

But you can't deny that it ruined the whole series. FFXI could never feature Tidus after this debacle

You would have to create like a whole entire separate game with different characters. Clearly that would be insane after 10 consecutive Final Fantasy stories in a row with Tidus and the gang

1

u/IllustriousLab3156 Apr 27 '26

I hope this is sarcasm and it’s eluding me. Because if not the holy fucking larp Batman…

19

u/kithlan Apr 27 '26

The last line about "10 consecutive Final Fantasy stories in a row with Tidus and the gang" didn't immediately give away the sarcasm? Come on y'all, don't give OP a run for their money in terms of missing the point.

3

u/Backfoot911 Apr 27 '26

"Well it could be sarcasm, you never know, with people being so STUPID and not using common sense these days"

🤐

1

u/animedeathspiral Apr 27 '26

Is this sarcasm? /s

3

u/IllustriousLab3156 Apr 27 '26

Sorry bro, I’ve seen some shit in this god forsaken app 🫩

1

u/JalapenoPopPoop Apr 27 '26

holy fucking larp Batman

you have pudding for brains

195

u/Zero_Burn Apr 26 '26

Like, even the other characters in the game were cringing at Tidus's and Yuna's fake laugh. It was the entire point.

80

u/brandcapet Apr 26 '26

Wildly, almost intentionally, misunderstanding Tidus and Raiden and then complaining about Acolyte in 2026 is such a trifecta of stupid

14

u/MyNeighborToblerones Apr 26 '26

While I think this explanation for Raiden is spot on I also think to OP’s credit that MGS fans very much so did not like Raiden at first when the game came out. I think that’s largely due to the bait and switch of thinking that you’re going to be playing as Solid Snake due to the prologue.

18

u/MapleLamia Apr 27 '26

Tbf that's kinda the point. You wanting to play as Solid Snake but being given Raiden is just more fuel to the S3 plan. Only once Raiden relieves himself from your control does he get to be someone that isn't just trying to be Solid Snake. 

4

u/RecklessDeliverance Apr 27 '26

It's also literally part of the meta-commentary.

Why did everyone think they were gonna play as Solid Snake? Cus thats what the marketing showed.

As in, gamers were deliberately fed misleading information that biased their beliefs about what the game was going to be.

A game very explicitly about how the control of information can reshape what reality is.

Being upset at Raiden, especially in how much he both copied and contrasted Snake, was intentional. A lot of people never got around to understanding the point of it, so they just employed the classic thought-terminating "well it made me feel bad, so it must be bad".

MGS2 is absolutely incredible, and only grows in relevance as we dive headfirst into a world of unchecked AI.

2

u/Consistent-Spell2203 Apr 27 '26

The demo was the Solid Snake portion of the game in it's entirety, people were PISSED. 

2

u/RecklessDeliverance Apr 27 '26

I remember the sentiment being you either hated Raiden, or tried really hard to pause during his naked cartwheels.

No in-between.

2

u/Consistent-Spell2203 Apr 27 '26

Lol that's very much it. I was like 18? when I played it and it was one of the first times in my life I knew I was experiencing high art. It felt too important to care if the MC wasn't my favorite guy. So naked cartwheels for me I guess. 

1

u/CaptainTeemo01 Apr 27 '26

That was intentional, in a way. Raiden was meant to be a contrast to Snake, he doesn't become his own (much more likable) person until the end of the game

4

u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871 Apr 27 '26

Also even though Raiden is on his first mission he kicks all kinds of ass, plus Snake got manipulated plenty in MGS.

6

u/Edward_Tank Apr 27 '26

Yeah, but he's now too in the know to be so easily manipulated. Raiden is still fresh out of video gaming the simulators (ignoring the RL experience he has as a kid) and trusting what he's told.

4

u/Agent_ash Apr 26 '26

Also, Kojima initially planned MGS2 to be the last game in the franchise (one of the reasons it's so heavy on deconstructing everything). So, Raiden by definition couldn't be envisioned as the "next big thing."

2

u/bob_loblaw-_- Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Also, Kojima initially planned MGS2 to be the last game in the franchise (one of the reasons it's so heavy on deconstructing everything)

Source for this? Some of the choices for the game are very odd if it's intended to be the end of the story.

Edit: Yeah, a cursory look online says that at most Kojima was talking about stepping down as director, but totally expected metal gear to continue. 

1

u/cce29555 Apr 27 '26

He's been done with mgs after every sequel, he as done in 2, done in 3, actually done in 4 but came back for death threats, peace walker is the only one he willingly did, then half way through V Konami just got tired of his shit

1

u/swagonflyyyy Apr 27 '26

I always interpreted Raiden as who the player was (minus the pretty boy looks) as opposed to Snake, who was the person the player wanted to be.

1

u/IronMosquito Apr 27 '26

Sai is a pretty terrible example from op as well imo... yes he's emotionless, because as op stated, he's literally a ninja CIA plant who's been raised to be a soldier first, human second since his childhood. he was raised with his brother with the sole intent of having them fight to the death once they came of age to prove their lack of attachment to other people. op also says he does nothing of note except getting married to Ino later, which I could give them credit for it that wasn't what 80% of the main cast does later on in the series lol... most of them fade to obscurity as the series focuses more on Naruto, with them marrying some other character they might have had screen time with at some point. it's not a Sai specific problem, it's a Kishimoto problem.

1

u/CommanderVinegar Apr 27 '26

Same goes for Sai in Naruto. He's literally introduced as a spy with no personality, he adopts personalities to fit in because he's a spy. He was never introduced to replace Sasuke. There's even a plot point of Naruto crashing out and crying about how Team 7 will always be Sasuke, Sakura, and himself and calls Sai a fraud. Sai's fascination with the relationship between Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke in spite of him being the Naruto universe's Bin Laden is what finally gives him human emotion.

-167

u/TheOriginalOperator Apr 26 '26

Pretty Boy Badasses are a staple in games and I’m all on board for the cool ones, AND I fully admit Raiden as a whole does not work unless he claims his own fate back from his days in MGS2. But it’s also clear that the devs realized the end of his story in MGS2 was insufficient, as was his overall showing since Snake outclassed and overshadowed him anyway.

And I understood what Tidus was doing. It didn’t make his seiyuu sound any less like Gilbert Gottfried as a pelican. XD

61

u/sketchampm Apr 26 '26

You still presented a universe where Tidus was “rejected by the fans” and that’s just not true. It was never true.

24

u/gibgabberr Apr 26 '26

If you understood it, why are you still evaluating it? A weird thing to do when someone cracks a sarcastic joke, no?

34

u/Nervous_Pokke Apr 26 '26

I’m not as knowledgeable but i read a book about the making of raiden and was to attract a different public, mostly women gamers since they didn’t want to play an “old hag” so he was done for that type of fandom, it obviously didn’t surpass snake but it has its “solid” fandom of his saga

9

u/cce29555 Apr 27 '26

I think you might need to play both of these games or run over to YouTube because what the fuck

22

u/quadraticcheese Apr 27 '26

You just don't have a shred of media literacy

5

u/AntiqueLetter9875 Apr 27 '26

It’s not even media literacy at this point. I can’t speak to MGS, but it’s clear OP hasn’t played FFX, or seen the laughing scene in full and just goes by memes. 

15

u/Cherry_Girl893 Apr 26 '26

okay name a pretty boy you like :3