How it began, why it’s done, who likes it, and just how common it is, anyway. I don’t mean just the “karma houdini” entries at TvTropes, which, for the most part, about single incidents or relatively short periods of time. I’m talking about the characters who cause incredible amounts of crap, constantly, and almost never suffer any consequences.
In particular, I’m thinking of these cases:
Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney in The Simpsons. They don’t have any purpose other than causing random pain and destruction, and no one is immune (not even Ned Flanders!) The movie was a landmark event mainly because it was the first time in history anyone at all stood up to them (Martin, of all people, although by this point Hans Moleman or C. Mongomery Burns would’ve been just as plausible).
Eric Cartman from South Park. Particularly telling in that, from some of the later episodes I’ve seen (okay, okay, episodes I heard about on TVTropes…hey, I like that site), this is practically the whole point of the show now (and even more so since Chef, Kenny, Mr. Mackey, Veronica Crabtree, Pip et al. have gone by the wayside). His bossiness and jerkishness has become so ingrained that the other characters barely even notice anymore. He always gets what he wants, and if there are any negative consequences, it’s because what he wanted turned out to be lousy for some reason.
Hobbes. Yeah, that Hobbes. I never thought he was a figment of Calvin’s imagination, because I could not imagine a more HORRIBLE companion. Eternally self-centered, gluttonous, greedy, contemptuous, and violent. Worst of all, there’s no way for anyone to punish him, because Calvin’s a helpless boy and no one else can even see the real him. Honorable mention, I suppose to Moe, although he seemed more like a cipher than an actual character to me.
“Black hat guy” from xkcd. What spurred me to start this thread. I don’t care what stupid portmanteau he made up, he causes incredible chaos, mayhem, misery, and bodily harm, he’s committed numerous criminal acts, and NOBODY EVER TRIES TO STOP HIM. I mean, xkcd isn’t exactly side-splittingly funny (though it does have it’s moments of weird greatness…that “mimic octopus” one had me laughing for reasons I can’t fully explain), but normally at its worst, it’s pointless. This guy makes it disgusting, and I don’t see any point or purpose or entertainment value at all.
I dunno…I guess I’m just used to the more oldschool media. Sitcoms are governed by the Rule of Funny (hey, I said I liked that site! 
), and it’s never funny when the same guy prevails all the time*. A great many video games have had truly despicable characters, but they’re expected to earn their successes; I’ve never played as single game where the villain romped all over evertyhing and could never be foiled. Heck, in the “Dong Zhuo in Luo Yang” scenario in Dynasty Warriors 5, it’s impossible for Dong Zhuo to not get killed! Traditional superhero comics now have numerous titles catering to the old bad guys, but that’s because they’ve become awesome characters in their own right, and even the term “bad guy” is becoming outdated as a lot of shades of gray have cropped up.
Never understood the appeal of eternally unpunished jerkishness. Never saw a purpose. You guys have been great enlightening me on these types of subjects before; I’d appreciate your help now.
And before anyone asks: No, I have not seen it in real life in Hawaii. Yeah, we have disgusting kids. Everywhere has disgusting kids. Once high school is over, that stops being sustainable. Everyone needs someone, whether it be a grocery bagger, a bus driver, a garbage collector, a doctor, or a politician. And if you regularly pull crap like creating pileups on escalators or stealing cars, you will, at some point, face the music. It’s an island; there isn’t very far to run. (Don’t find this out the hard way, a’ight?)
- I do remember Eric’s sister from That 70’s Show, “Laurie” or something, who blew off college and made life miserable for Eric and lived a total lie, but she never was an important character and was inserted largely as a walking stereotype. Annoying, but not in the same galaxy as Black Hat Guy.
