The Most UNDERRATED Character Archetype in Fiction

[@fireballstudiose]

The story I’m writing right now has a lot of “bully antagonists” due to the world it’s set in, though they all eventually get what they deserve, also I’m glad someone gets that some bullies aren’t just “misunderstood people”, and instead act like that just cuz they can get away with it.

[@zf10studios52]

thing is, no bully is pure evil. that doesn't excuse it, but every bully does have a reason and a sad backstory.

[@Eat_shit--die_mad]

Half of bullies do it out of egotistical privileged malice, basically just mini bigots, the other half are deeply misunderstood emotionally damaged people often hurting people without realizing or understanding their own actions These two archetypes aren't mutually exclusive

[@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8]

@@zf10studios52 Empathy and the ability to relate is a wonderful thing. However "sad backstory"? Not necessarily. Someone could simply be a spoiled brat and bully people by virtue of them being so above everyone monetarily or socially.

[@zf10studios52]

@@fishyfishyfishy500akabs8 That’s not true though, people are the amalgamation of the experiences they’ve gone through. No one truly has free will

[@horuho245]

@@zf10studios52 you speak my language nurture all the way

[@paulkanja]

I remember this happened to me once. We were having a class debate. I had to present one of the points in the debate, and younger me wasn't too confident. The other team kept talking over me, and the teacher did nothing about it. I ended up losing, and everyone kept blaming me, saying they lost candy because of my "dumb self". I got so furious, I literally overworked myself studying. Glad to say I came top of my class (and won a small bag of candies all to myself. Yeah, you can bet I didn't share).

[@meteorcat0730]

At one point in my own life, I got bullied for being the foreign kid. I did not take that lying down, and was prone to getting into fights thanks to my violent nature. I'd say I'm doing a lot better now, but still feel the need to cave people's skulls in from time to time. I can get writing a bully, but if you don't incorporate various reactions from different kinds of protags in there, then it'll feel one note. Take my violent nature as mentioned above, I wouldn't try to get into fights, but I also liked fighting, and if someone were to pick a fight with me, then my fist will break their face first, not to mention their ribs. I'd like that to be implemented with several characters, show their violent side as opposed to keeping them as a pacifist. But hey, just need to implement that into my own writing~!

[@sydneyhanamore]

This makes me so sad but it's written so well I can't stop watching.

[@ssjaydk]

i remember growing up in elementary school having little friends because of my skin color. i was smart, liked to read and liked anime but since people of my skin color "weren't supposed to like that stuff" i was always by myself or had fake friends because of that. i'm so happy for all the people in the comments that made it through their toughest years

[@warrenbradford2597]

I do not know what skin color you have, but it sounds like you have gone through some racism as a kid. I was bullied a little myself as a kid myself, but not for the things I like.

[@Darth_Bateman]

@@warrenbradford2597All black boys go thru racism as kids, unfortunately. It’s like: you either fit in with the black kids. Or you make friends with racist white kids. Unfortunately , there is rarely middle ground. My nephew is light skinned and he’s already experienced this.

[@warrenbradford2597]

@@Darth_Bateman I do have this problem as a kid, and I am African American myself. I maybe a rare exception.

[@AnathemaIllustration]

Though I was homeschooled I also had a bully, my sister filled that role and my mom/teacher only supported her.

[@PunpunRen]

when I saw Underrated Character and Bakugo in the thumbnail I was ready to game over myself in minecraft

[@Igor_Chausov]

I was bulled in school and on my first place of work and I know that people can commit evil unreasonably and get fun doing it. But as autistic person I have hard time imagining what's going on in other people's heads. It is hard for me to imagine what bullies think and feel when they do what they do. Maybe it is a reason why in my stories almost all antagonists are moved by good purposes but they choose bad ways to reach these purposes.

[@Saga_Anserum]

9:02 It's not a whole series and it's not really about specific bully characters, but I would recommend At Night, I Become A Monster by Yoru Sumino for a look as to how bullying can happen in schools and how bystanders view it. It's more in line with my experience of being ostracised in school than most bully characters in media, anyways.

[@ForOne814]

There are literally no negative consequences for the bully IRL, it's just that many people bully others because they have problems themselves. If they just enjoy bullying, they will probably be fine.

[@porky1118]

3:50 Something slightly similar happened to me, too. At least that I was the only person who said something else that everybody else. It wasn't really about bullying. And it wasn't me being treated unfair. But it was me speaking up when nobody else did. Mine had a positive ending, though. We had some system, where you had to hand the teacher some certificate signed by the parents whenever somebody was ill. The teacher wasn't very organized, so he had to tell us about the missing certificates at the end of the year. And almost everybody forgot to hand in at least one. So he called very pupil one by one and told them. And he always made the same stupid joke, accusing us to have skipped class. It was just a stupid joke, it didn't really matter. So everybody just agreed. But when it was my turn, maybe after the first ten were called, I said "No, I was ill". But then I wasn't the only one after he continued making this joke. Around every third pupil also disagreed after me. I doubt anyone would have disagreed if I hadn't spoken up. Not sure when I realized that. Maybe only years later. And I know it wasn't important at all. But it showed me something important.

[@nazimouachek2216]

Sukuna and kenjaku from jujutsu kaisen are best exemples of the bully character you're describing And it really irritates me how these got away with everything in Shibuya Mahito is even better as an example too Heck why is everyone bullying poor yuji 😭

[@Leitis_Fella]

This gave me some inspiration for the main antagonist in my novel, who is inspired by several post-soviet oligarchs. Showing how he gets away with despicable things and no one holds him accountable despite the fact his country is a parliamentary democracy, with all intentioned checks and balances failing to stop his malice and greed--would make for a compelling villain.

[@puppeli]

Back when i was in school, there were several different types of bullies. There were couple of kids that had been bullied in the past, and they decided to bully me in return (i was 2 years younger than them). They mainly insulted me and sometimes threw stones or water on me during winter (imagine it being -20°C and somebody throws water on you, or snowballs with rocks inside them). When i reached 4th grade, they stopped, as i was starting to become too big (they were shorter than average. Its probably why they decided to bully somebody who was 2 years younger.) Then there was this one guy who just loved to fight. No matter who they were. When he was in 2nd grade, he would attack groups of 5th graders unprovoked. He would get beat up, but after a week or two, he would do it again. It think he thought it was fun. Sometimes he would also beat up younger kids. I was one of his favorite targets (i was one year younger than him). He never got into any trouble from beating me. My social skills were always several years behind everybody else and i had a nervous tick, that made me giggle (it was great at making me look guilty, whenever i was being interrogated). Every time teachers investigated who had started a fight, my bullies could easily make teachers believe their side of the story. On numerous occasions, teachers made me apologize to my bullies. He had a little brother who also liked to fight. DEspite the little brother being 2 years younger than me, I was his favorite target to attack. I guess wanting to fight stronger opponents runs in their family. One time he came swinging at me with a hockey stick and i kicked him down the stairs. And there were a few times when i was tying my shoelaces and he bashed his backpack at my head. Of course, I would then proceed to beat him, knowing his older brother would kick my ass afterwards. Only he was allowed to beat up his little brother. However, I wasnt the most bullied kid (only the second most). Bullies favorite target was this annoying boy from my class. He was a class clown but he had the tendency of insulting everybody. Not gonna lie, it was fun listening to him insult other people. But it wasnt fun when he targeted you. Anyways. During recess, typically a group of boys would come and exchange insults with the annoying kid. And because the group of boys, were 4 years older and there were more of em. They often came up with more cutting insults. And that resulted in the annoying kid getting so frustrated that he attacked them physically. Which always resulted in the annoying kid getting his ass beat. He never had a chance. Eventually the older kids made a sport out of trying to get the annoying kid to attack them. And whenever the teachers got involved in it, the annoying kid was the only one to detention. And in 3rd grade, he was expelled from school, and put into a special school, meant for violent kids. The reason why the annoying kid got all the blame. Was because he often made fun of the teachers, and the bullies usually didn't attack him first. In my 8-9th grade i switched schools. In the new school, the most bullied kid was, one who had awkward social skills and never fought back. He would threaten to fight his bullies, but never actually did. Instead he would get beaten up weekly. At least one of his eyes, was always black. And his eyeglasses were held up with tape, from getting broken so many times. People would throw food and garbage at him, or spit on him (including the girls). When i asked why everybody was bullying him. The answer i heard was, that when he had been in 7th grade, he had the audacity to claim to be able to break dance. But when he demonstrated his skills, it turned out that he was bad at it. I thought that was an insane reason to bully someone. Its not like anybody else in the school knew how to break dance either. I think the real reason why they bullied him, was that he was an easy target. He never fought back or complained to the teachers. Teachers did sometimes see him getting beat up. But this was a time when, if teachers saw a fight, they would give detention to everybody involved. Even if you didn't fight back, you got detention. And then there were the popular and charismatic kids, that liked to insult the easy targets and everybody else would laugh. Seeing that happen for years. Eventually i started to internalize, that insulting people who were awkward or stupid, would make me popular..... Unfortunately i was never good at coming up with clever or funny insults. The most i managed, was calling somebody stupid or an idiot. I still cringe at myself, when i remember how as a teenager. If i was talking to someone and they were to say something stupid. I would call them stupid or an idiot, but only if there was somebody else, within a hearing distance. And especially if that "somebody else", was somebody i looked up to. As if that would make them like me more. So embarrassing! Oh and sorry for the bad punctuation. I can only say that English isn't my first language, and i have always been bad at speaking and writing.

[@Darth_Bateman]

Jesús Christ, what country did you grow up in?! Japan? Or India?!

[@CarriesOnTop]

That teacher part, I'm willing to bet it was a female teacher probably around second grade. Had a very similar experience back then. LIke for the teacher is not that serious but for the kids that care its different lol.

[@CrayfishLord]

I bullied a person for 2 years in College and never thought I was in the wrong until afterwards

[@SammyRobinson62232]

Quick question: Is it okay when it comes to bully characters. Can you explore the idea on a bully character being a bully because they can get away with it. And another bully character being a bully because of their insecurities or outside forces/have some more nuances. Cause I don’t think people are just born being bullies. They’re taught that way b/c of their environment. And I find those stories (like a silent voice) really interesting and nuance. This is me not discredit your bullying experience cause nobody deserved to be bullied. I’m just asking on a writing stand point Edit: also the JK Rowling section was kinda tough to watch due to her most recent tweets

[@ScritRighter]

I mean you don't need my permission to write outside the advice i'm giving lmao. I think what i'm trying to get at in the video is that there is a certain visceral emotion a writer can tap into by resisting the urge to redeem certain villainous characters or give them an explanation/sympathetic backstory. I think there's plenty you can do with a bully who is redeemable too.

[@SammyRobinson62232]

@@ScritRighter Oh okay. Thx for taking the time to respond

[@redi.c.e.6046]

@@ScritRighterso then, what do you think of how Bakugo’s arc went on, and the final result of him by Season 6? (Asking outta curiosity from someone who loved him as a bully character even from the start and loves him as a character even more now, jsyk)

[@ScritRighter]

@@redi.c.e.6046 For me it seemed like he was always intended to end up like this, so I was never really surprised by his arch. I just wish they were confident enough to make him an antagonist for a little while longer before they got deeper into it. There's not really any moral dilemmas with Bakugo where there otherwise could be.

[@redi.c.e.6046]

@@ScritRighter well I guess I might argue otherwise, but that’s just a perfect fair way to see it. (Which let’s be honest, among mha discourse, for even a view you disagree with to still be fair, is a pleasant sight lol) Ah, Great video btw, didn’t mention that anywhere but feel I probably should.

[@anime_world6684]

After this video I now have more reason why I want my self insert protagonist to be the final villain (not because of bullying don’t worry)

[@LalitoVAngel]

Ok wow I was not expecting to watch 2 bangers in a row, like I’m excited to go through the rest of ur stuff while I finish up commissions nice work dude!

[@Cp-71]

I don't like the implication that in order for a bully to be a good character they MUST follow these principals - and that's just not true.

[@warrenbradford2597]

I'll at least write one bully character as villain for my universe. That is the least I can do to give this trope more ratings.

[@UltraUltimatium]

Is that a slowed down and reverbed version of Soleanna Town I hear in the background???

[@leonardobertoni8594]

Never heard words so wise

[@ryannixon4138]

damn I feel for ishigami, didn't know that was from kaguya sama lol I thought it was the MC

[@Mik-s2l]

Got it make all the teachers incompetent. Still, I don't think that would work in mha if he did that. Only all might would be likable, and we wouldn't have mainstays like eraserhead

[@redi.c.e.6046]

Sadly, one can’t post images in KZbin comments, but if this were twitter, I’d definitely use my Kung Fu Panda Kai “Yes! Finally! Thank you!” meme about now lol. Cus yah, I’m sorry but I like that for once a fictional series actually shows people actually respond how you think they appropriately should to bullshitters, that just felt like a breath of fresh air for once.

[@Mik-s2l]

@redi.c.e.6046 Yeah, but I don't blame the guy for this type of writing. It has worked well in other series. I just don't think it'll work super well on mha but I don't think he was wrong just missed the point

[@redi.c.e.6046]

@@Mik-s2l yeah, that’s just it.

[@V1Ultrakilllmao]

Have you read School Bus Graveyard? There some good themes about bully’s and the overlooking of the authority figures.

[@ScritRighter]

I've not, but maybe I'll check it out.

[@giovannima]

If you're interesterd in this type of strory I suggest you to read the girl from random chatting. I always see Draco Malfoy more annoying than a treath.

[@janiefallout8]

It's too painful and writing about it could break you without any benefits. That's why people can't write about it. And that's why I threw my slipper at the TV while watching "Silicon Valley". I just can't stand watching people being constantly bullied.

[@magtegi2]

8:13 shield hero is very good at writing strawmen to justify slavery

[@porky1118]

11:00 Yeah, I guess I really don't have to watch MHA.

[@redi.c.e.6046]

I won’t try to force you or anything. But please, don’t assume that just off of this basis. After all, if ya hear this same moment, he does say this is what (for him) woulda improved the Academia of My Hero Academia. And lemme just assure ya, there is indeed a lot more to My Hero Academia than just the Academia. (Also if ya just reeeally need to feel better about this part anyway, i can tell ya that, hey, at least no one makes any effort to punish Bakugo’s bs in the sports festival, if that makes it any better 😂)

[@Bruh_bruh-d7s]

Psa/tutorial

[@ETPlayground]

JK Rowling just wrote herself as a teen boy and voila Malfoy. No surprise that she wrote a good bully.

[@southoceann]

I've been bullied too, but the amount of self injection in this video makes it hard to separate between objective and subjective knowledge. It feels like you are still not over it man. Sure the bully can get away with certain stuff, but they don't get away with everything. Before framing them to be horrible people, why don't we ask what had made them that way? Even better, what do they have that the protagonist doesn't and what can the hero do about it? You've answered that in the video: social currency, and they are usually somewhat competent too. Maybe the bully is confident, dares to take risks, charming, funny, likable. There's so much the protagonist can improve to get that social currency, but nah, the victim has no responsibilities for change. It's convenient that way, we don't have to think about our flaws. Truth is, you only become a bully because you have been bullied before and have toughened up. Writing a bully character without any redeeming qualities is exactly the wrong way to go, that's just revenge for the writer's own childhood. Malfoy is both a bully and a victim of bully, that's why fans love him.

[@SammyRobinson62232]

I also have notice how people dislike how one note slytherin is due to ALL of them being racist a bully or both. And there’s no good slytherin in Harry’s generation

[@HOLDENPOPE]

The Zodiac Killer told the police that he killed people so he could have slaves in the afterlife. Pure evil is realistic. Some bullies hate you just for being different, and some of those people who were bullied become bullies themselves, hell, some of them become school shooters. Evil, villainly, antagonism and bullying are all on a gradient. There is no 'one size fits all' explanation for every single bully in reality and fiction.

[@southoceann]

@@HOLDENPOPE the Zodiac Killer is an unsolved case, how could we know the true reason to his killing when the police still don't know who he is? Should we trust the words of a criminal who we literally don't know anything about? You tell me.

[@leroidethunes3913]

I personally do not feel strongly for this kind of stories, usually they seem far too convoluted and stupid, perhaps due to your personal experience you may regard things differently, indeed in one's own head things, specially bad things, always appear magnified, specially when they have become memories and this type of stories tend to be fueled by said memories, thus, often blown out of proportion, often time, reality is much different and tis just people having a hard time accepting it

[@valenciaa.vaquero3104]

How was it cheating if it was teams? Collabration is the name of the game, not relying on entirely on yourself. 😅

[@ScritRighter]

Ah yes, then why not have someone from the dugout push the first baseman out of the way so their teammate can get to first base? It's a team game after all!

[@valenciaa.vaquero3104]

@@ScritRighter I hope you can find yout peace man.

[@SammyRobinson62232]

@@ScritRighter Quick question: Is it okay when it comes to bully characters. Can you explore the idea on a bully character being a bully because they can get away with it. And another bully character being a bully because of their insecurities or outside forces/have some more nuances. Cause I don’t think people are just born being bullies. They’re taught that way b/c of their environment. And I find those stories (like a silent voice) really interesting and nuance. This is me not discredit your bullying experience cause nobody deserved to be bullied. I’m just asking on a writing stand point Edit: also the JK Rowling section was kinda tough to watch due to her most recent tweets