Posted January 17, 2015 Here is a thread for things we all love to hate about our favorite good guys! Here is an example of what I mean: Frodo Baggins: Frodo is a bit of a weakling in battle. While somewhat strong mentally, he never really fights in battles, even when he has an awesome elf dagger and mithril armor. The other hobbits fought, I wish he did too... Various good guys: Too merciful on some occasions. They prefer to let villans go instead of killing them and ending it right there. Often the villans come back for revenge, creating a new problem that would never havbe happen if they had died. Thats all, rant away! Share this post Link to post
Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) I agree about Frodo, absolutely! He does nothing but carry that dumb ring around (some may say that it has enough evil powers by itself to drain him from every ounce of power and justify Frodo for that), but yeah, I think he could have fought more. Also, I hate it how naïve many good guys can be - going back to Frodo. He knows Sam for pretty much a long time and STILL chooses to trust a wicked little creature he met for the first time in his life, for which HE KNOWS is a slave to the ring, and pushes Sam away as if he were the bad guy. I don't get that. If I think of something else, I'll be sure to mention it as well. EDIT: Oh my God, VOLTEER on your avatar! Let me love you. Which reminds me - Spyro in "Dawn of the dragon" after going through the belt of fire. Saying: "I feel so alone" even if Cynder has been literally chained to him all this time. Yes, a bunch of things have happened and everything seemed entirely hopeless, but YOU'RE NOT ALONE. AGAIN A PROBLEM WITH ELIJAH WOOD. Edited January 17, 2015 by *Silver Fox* Share this post Link to post
Posted January 17, 2015 Irrational Gryffindorish behaviours like running off straight into danger rather than sitting still for two seconds to get a proper plan together and call for more competent backup. And then even worse when the plot repeatedly rewards them for that kind of nonsense - no one's luck is that good! Unfortunately a difficult trope to avoid in protagonists (especially teenage boy protagonists) - you don't get a plot by using the common sense approach. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) If heroes were perfect, they wouldn't be as fun to watch nor would it make as good a story. ;3 I think making Frodo fight more or with more passion would have ruined his character. If that's who he was, I don't think he could have made it to Mordor, Sam or no Sam. ~ My first one that immediately comes to mind is Harry's anger issues in HP. Also his obsession with Draco in the sixth book. Both took him really off-track. However, the books would have been really different without both of those. XD Edited January 17, 2015 by SockPuppet Strangler Share this post Link to post
Posted January 17, 2015 Oh, boy... a personal pet peeve of mine is when a story starts with the protagonist moving to a new town/state/area/whatever and the entire first chapter is just them complaining about how they don't have any friends anymore. I mean, I'm probably biased (I'm introverted as hell and don't really care about having a circle of friends), but couldn't they have gotten a lot more done by not dwelling on it and instead staying in touch with their old friends via internet/going out and making a few more friends instead of using their time to whine about it? And more importantly, do writers actually think their readers are interested in reading about that over and over again? I'm actually pretty interested in more passive protagonists (provided they get their job done). Too many heroes are just FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT all the time. Solving problems through force is boring. Give us something different for a change. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 18, 2015 I agree about Frodo, absolutely! He does nothing but carry that dumb ring around (some may say that it has enough evil powers by itself to drain him from every ounce of power and justify Frodo for that), but yeah, I think he could have fought more. Also, I hate it how naïve many good guys can be - going back to Frodo. He knows Sam for pretty much a long time and STILL chooses to trust a wicked little creature he met for the first time in his life, for which HE KNOWS is a slave to the ring, and pushes Sam away as if he were the bad guy. I don't get that. If I think of something else, I'll be sure to mention it as well. EDIT: Oh my God, VOLTEER on your avatar! Let me love you. Which reminds me - Spyro in "Dawn of the dragon" after going through the belt of fire. Saying: "I feel so alone" even if Cynder has been literally chained to him all this time. Yes, a bunch of things have happened and everything seemed entirely hopeless, but YOU'RE NOT ALONE. AGAIN A PROBLEM WITH ELIJAH WOOD. I agree with you on the Frodo part-Sam is a really nice guy and is pretty much Frodo's BFF since he sticks with him through it all. I would feel pity for Gollum, but I still wouldn't trust him. As for DoTD, in that one scene I wish Spyro had succumbed to his dark side for a little longer. It would have been rather interesting to see what he would do. I think a reason why he felt alone is because Ignitus had guided him throughout and was a father figure, and now he has nobody to guide him. As for the Volteer avatar, Volteer is my favorite guardian and I love him to bits. I just wish he had more than one line in DoTD. Naruto: He is always chasing after Sasuke, even when it becomes obvious he is beyond help. Sure, he comes around eventually, but it takes ages and Naruto sort of wasted his time when Sasuke turned fully evil. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 18, 2015 If heroes were perfect, they wouldn't be as fun to watch nor would it make as good a story. ;3 I think making Frodo fight more or with more passion would have ruined his character. If that's who he was, I don't think he could have made it to Mordor, Sam or no Sam. Let's not forget that the ring would have fed off of any aggressive actions he might have taken. Didn't he almost stab Sam once? If memory serves me right it was in the second movie when one of the Nasgould(sp?) riding dragon-back almost grabbed him and/or the ring when Frodo pretty much offer it to him in that one city that was under attack. If he had already killed once with any aggressive thoughts he might not have come to his senses in time to prevent him from killing Sam. What's my biggest pet peeve? It's gotta be when the hero is too forgiving. Yeah, being the good guy means showing mercy and that's fine, but if you just took down a villain who is known for being deceitful and famous for back-stabbing then you know they're going to do it again. Those guys never learn their lesson and it'll only hurt the hero in the long run because when the villain aims for revenge, he'll/she'll strike where it hurts. Share this post Link to post
Posted January 19, 2015 My first one that immediately comes to mind is Harry's anger issues in HP. That still annoys me to this day, he was just so angsty :s. I mean, I don't mind when they have thoughts like that for a few pages or so, but this to me went on endlessly. It got to the point when I had to put down the book for a while and read something else. Too much negativity . My number one pet peeve is Ron. Something about him just bugs me, to the point that when I reread HP I have to skip parts of his dialogue. I don't like the best friend that turns the protagonist against his other friends, so I'd prefer it if the protagonist (Harry, talking to you), was a bit more willing to stand up for his friends against his friends. *deep breath* There. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) I love the Harry Potter books, but I could only read them so many times before the main characters started to tick me off. Harry is incredibly angry, Ron is selfish, and Hermione cries all the time. Great books, but I become increasingly annoyed every time I read them. I really enjoyed that Frodo wasn't a fighter. I thought it made him a more realistic character. Edited February 3, 2015 by ab613 Share this post Link to post
Posted April 8, 2015 I hate it when they have no flaws. Like seriously. Just HOW do you manage to stalk your crush, go to Harvard, save the world, and win gold medals? YOU ALIEN! Share this post Link to post
Posted April 8, 2015 Reading the new Thor comics and he's like...so angry. I mean it makes sense; he kind of lost his arm, and his hammer, and apparently his shirt. But like...he picks a fight with the new goddess of thunder. And I'm like, "Thor, you doof, control yourself. I know you've had a crappy day but dude. Calm down. It's not like you can lift Mjolnir anymore anyway." Share this post Link to post
Posted April 8, 2015 I hate it when they have no flaws. Like seriously. Just HOW do you manage to stalk your crush, go to Harvard, save the world, and win gold medals? YOU ALIEN! Yes, chrcaters who have no flaws are really annoying to me - unless they annoy the other characters as well and turn out to have plenty of flaws - just had been hiding them before. In that case they can go ahead. ^.^ Also, doubly annoying when the character is 'the chosen one' and that makes all flaws disappear. It shouldn't! A character who's the chosen one shouldn't lose their flaws once they discover this. Sure, they can gain some self-confidence, but not completely change character! Though books I find that have annoying characters like that generally tend to annoy me in other ways, so I don't read them often. I really like the way Mary was written as a selfish brat at the start, but realistically changed to a better person by the end. The book just makes it sound very natural. Share this post Link to post
Posted May 31, 2015 What really makes me mad is when any character, not just the good guy, has abilities that they use once, to show they have them, and never use them again, or when they pull a random ability out of their butt to move the plot forward. Harry Potter is notorious for this, introducing new spells to move the plot, when they could have been really useful several times before. Superman also makes me angry sometimes, because he knows martial arts. Did you know that? Probably not, because he never freaking uses them, along with his apparent ability to turn back time that he will never use again I'm sure. Share this post Link to post
Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) Lameness. I hate it when the protagonists go all cheesy and go all 'I always win' over everything. No certain books or movies or anything in particular, but just hate it when they are like *Kills someone* *Inserts random comment or something that just makes them look like they're trying to be cool when they actually just end up portraying their stupidity* *Kills another person* *Kills another 5 people at one go and inserts another random comment* *Finishes the plot without a scratch because that's cool* I can't think of any specifics... Also hate male protagonist in teenage movies where THERE HAS TO BE A FREAKING GIRLFRIEND THAT THEY SPEND 30 MINUTES JUST ADMIRING HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO DO BRUH I KNOW SHE LOOKS PRETTY COOL JUST FOCUS ON THE BULLY WHO IS ABOUT TO SPLASH JUICE ON YOUR FACE OR PUNCH YOU OR TRIP YOU WITH YOUR FOOD TRAY OR SOMETHING PREDICTABLE LIKE THAT And then at the end of it you definitely 'get the girl' and the problem is everyone KNEW THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN no complications or plot-twists or something DIFFERENT whatsoever Sorry, I hate that as well. Edited June 4, 2015 by SULDhasno Share this post Link to post
Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) When a protagonist have to mention every five seconds that they're the best at x thing or going to be the best at x thing it's really annoying and makes me irrationally angry and COMPLETELY ruins a protagonist for me like yes we get it you think you're better than everyone else at this thing it would be impossible not to get it because you won't stop mentioning it go away c': Edited June 4, 2015 by Pika_Oi Share this post Link to post
Posted June 11, 2015 On the topic of stupitidy.... Just when good guys say somethjng stupid. Like, somebody says something that's "cool" like "Do you like being in Losertown? Because you're about to get a free ticket!!" and punches the bad guy or whatever. Happens in a lot of shows directed at little boys, but it just gets on my nerves. The Pokemon anime is also a show that greatly suffers from it. Share this post Link to post
Posted June 11, 2015 When they're narrating and they make awkward jokes and informal chatter. That just always bugs me. Share this post Link to post
Posted June 15, 2015 On the topic of stupitidy.... Just when good guys say somethjng stupid. Like, somebody says something that's "cool" like "Do you like being in Losertown? Because you're about to get a free ticket!!" and punches the bad guy or whatever. Happens in a lot of shows directed at little boys, but it just gets on my nerves. The Pokemon anime is also a show that greatly suffers from it. So far I haven't seen anything of the sort in that... Maybe it's just because I'm 17 episodes in out of how many thousand I can't imagine Satoshi saying stuff like that though... Hm... Maybe you meant Pikachu No, you probably meant Fushigdane Or maybe things get lost in translation, I think the subs might be bad, I actually thing the stupid quotes appear more often in those kind of movies and stuff directed at teenagers where it's like life-is-so-boring-I-have-no-friends-#loner-this-school's-cheerleaders-are-so-stupid-oh-my-gosh and then they see a girl and then slow singing music plays and then they have this dreamy face then they get beaten up because that's the main antagonist's girlfriend and the girlfriend gives him a look and walks away and then the beaten up protagonist sees another girl and then they become friends but still whenever he sees that other girl the music comes back on and he has the weird face again and then in the end he punches the antagonist or something and says something stupid and punches him again and maybe the roof falls on the antagonist and he's like NOOOOOO and then all the girls start crowding over him and then he says something stupid and cheesy then goes out with the other girl, not the antagonist's girlfriend because all the directors making these movies think that it's a kind of plot twist but then it just becomes cheesy Share this post Link to post
Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Hypocritical justice guys who just talk about justice and don't have any other view on what's right or wrong. Edited June 16, 2015 by Testerbeta Share this post Link to post
Posted June 19, 2015 Naruto's obsession with Sasuke... like, just forget about him already. :/ Share this post Link to post
Posted July 8, 2015 Harry Potter saves Draco Malfoy's life, he could have gotten away with not and no one would know, well, his 2 friends would know, but they wouldn't care that much, right? What's he gonna do if you save him? Help you fight Voldemort? Share this post Link to post
Posted August 7, 2015 I hate when the good guy has to teach the villain "true love". The dude just tried to kill you, don't do him any favors! Share this post Link to post
Posted August 11, 2015 Or maybe things get lost in translation, I think the subs might be bad, I actually thing the stupid quotes appear more often in those kind of movies and stuff directed at teenagers where it's like life-is-so-boring-I-have-no-friends-#loner-this-school's-cheerleaders-are-so-stupid-oh-my-gosh and then they see a girl and then slow singing music plays and then they have this dreamy face then they get beaten up because that's the main antagonist's girlfriend and the girlfriend gives him a look and walks away and then the beaten up protagonist sees another girl and then they become friends but still whenever he sees that other girl the music comes back on and he has the weird face again and then in the end he punches the antagonist or something and says something stupid and punches him again and maybe the roof falls on the antagonist and he's like NOOOOOO and then all the girls start crowding over him and then he says something stupid and cheesy then goes out with the other girl, not the antagonist's girlfriend because all the directors making these movies think that it's a kind of plot twist but then it just becomes cheesy cheesy as heck. High school movies are so awful with the lovey-dovey stuff. They always make sure It cheesy as supreme nachos.. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 16, 2015 When the protagonist wins because of "true love" or "willpower", basically something like this: A and B fight A is knocked out A remembers his girlfriend believed in him A wakes back up A and B fight again A is defeated once more A remembers his mom said he could do it A gets back up A and B fight AGAIN A is nearly dies A remembers some mystery move from his master A and B fight A wins What the hell. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 16, 2015 (edited) When the protagonist wins because of "true love" or "willpower", basically something like this: A and B fight A is knocked out A remembers his girlfriend believed in him A wakes back up A and B fight again A is defeated once more A remembers his mom said he could do it A gets back up A and B fight AGAIN A is nearly dies A remembers some mystery move from his master A and B fight A wins What the hell. USE THE FORCE, LUKE! Since Disney princesses are good guys (girls, actually), let me say what annoys me about them - falling in love with someone just because they are a prince and/or at least handsome. YOU CAN'T MARRY A MAN YOU JUST MET. And on top of all that, they call it true love. Also, in Cinderella - why did the fairy godmother wait for Cinderella's ball gown to be ruined by her evil stepsisters to come and help her out? Where was she when they, almost literally, forced her into slavery? AND when a good guy is THIS CLOSE to beating/killing the bad guy, but noooooooooo, they have to say/do something to delay their victory and end up dead themselves. Kind of like how Oberyn Martell died while fighting the Mountain. Just. so. pointless. Edited August 22, 2015 by *Silver Fox* Share this post Link to post
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