# Who's your favorite hapless loser? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276 "2023-02-24T05:29:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/1 "2023-02-24T05:29:53Z")
After realizing my favorite “antihero” for the [Favorite Anti-Hero thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-s-your-favorite-anti-hero/980253) wasn’t an anti-hero, but a hapless loser, I thought I’d start a new thread. My favorite hapless loser is Toby Flenderson from **The Office**. Michael Scott always disliked him and had it in for him, for no obvious reason other than to have someone lower than himself on the totem pole to pick on. Toby never seemed to have done anything to deserve his rank, but seemed resigned to accept it nonetheless. And eventually even embraced it. Anyone else? Real life as well as fiction? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/2 "2023-02-24T05:45:43Z")
I can’t think of a favorite in particular at the moment, but you are aiming for the butt-monkey. > **[Butt-Monkey - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ButtMonkey)** > > The character who is always the butt of the demeaning joke or the "put them through hell" plotline. For whatever reason, the Butt-Monkey seems to walk through life with a permanent "Kick Me" sign attached to their backs, invisible to them, but … ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/3 "2023-02-24T05:58:02Z")
Charlie Brown. ETA - Just noticed the strip in the link above. But you can’t beat a kid who gets rocks when he goes trick or treating. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/4 "2023-02-24T06:03:55Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Charlie Brown Classic! How could I have overlooked such an archetype? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/5 "2023-02-24T06:04:01Z")
**Joe Btfsplk** from _Li’l Abner_, the world’s worst jinx, usually depicted with a dark cloud hanging over his head. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/6 "2023-02-24T08:42:19Z")
Ziggy ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/7 "2023-02-24T09:04:33Z")
[Milhouse van Houten](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Milhouse_Van_Houten) and his father [Kirk](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Kirk_Van_Houten) - proof that hapless loserdom does not skip a generation. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/8 "2023-02-24T09:31:13Z")
[“You know what Jack Burton says at a time like this?”](https://youtu.be/J15lRJkxzkw) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/9 "2023-02-24T09:34:46Z")
[Harold Stassen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Stassen) He ran for president 9 times. I voted for him many times, too bad he wasn’t on any ballot I had in those years. I am surprised to learn he was alive until 2001 and last ran for president in 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/10 "2023-02-24T12:02:10Z")
I would say Hans Beckert, Peter Lorre’s character in M. He’s a serial killer of children, despised by not only society, but also the criminal underground for making them look bad. They eventually staged an intervention by luring him into an abandoned distillery and putting him on trial. There’s a scene where all the criminals balefully stare at him as the camera slowly spins to the right, showing the many scowling faces united in their disdain. When even the criminal underground can’t stand you, you really are a loser. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/11 "2023-02-24T12:05:57Z")
Gilligan from Gilligans Island. Two hot young girls and he never even tried. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/12 "2023-02-24T12:10:58Z")
“Al Bundy” hands down!! LOL ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/13 "2023-02-24T12:16:09Z")
Walter on Fringe. Just trust the process guys. Lol ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/14 "2023-02-24T12:22:58Z")
George Costanza. Maybe not _the_ most hapless, but certainly a loser and definitely my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/15 "2023-02-24T13:03:23Z")
Phil Dunphy. I’ll take his wife Claire, though. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/16 "2023-02-24T13:17:47Z")
How about [ol’ Gil Gunderson](https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Gil_Gunderson) from the Simpsons? Based on Jack Lemmon’s character Shelley Levene in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. I suppose I could go with Levene himself, but I guess I prefer my hapless losers at a level or two of ironic remove. Can an entire non-fictional NFL team be nominated? If so, I submit the 1991-1994 Buffalo Bills. A record 4 consecutive Superbowl appearances and all losses. The NFC was Lucy Van Pelt 😄 ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/17 "2023-02-24T13:29:05Z")
Jane Hathaway from _The Beverly Hillbillies._ She’s constantly having to do damage control for her boss Mr. Drysdale, who can’t see past his own avarice and constantly blames her for his screwups. She’s also the only one willing to guide the Clampettes through their constant culture clashes, but is hardly rewarded for her generosity. She flirts with Jethro, but he’s oblivious to her charms. She stays an old maid throughout the series. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/18 "2023-02-24T13:29:52Z")
I think Gil Gunderson is one of the worst blights the Simpsons have faced, especially since he has been used in what seems like untold dozens of episodes. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/19 "2023-02-24T13:48:16Z")
John Dortmunder\*. He grew up in an orphanage run by the Bleeding Heart Sisters of Eternal Misery. The deck was stacked against him. \*Dortmunder is the leader of a motley gang of criminal misfits in a series of caper books by Donald E. Westlake. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276/20 "2023-02-24T13:48:48Z")
_H.I. McDunnough_. Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona. And _Earl Hickey_, from My Name is Earl. I agree that Toby from The Office is a great choice. All of these are good choices. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-your-favorite-hapless-loser/980276.md?page=2)