They're obnoxious egomaniacs, but they rock anyway

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manathief

I was Lawnmowergirl
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Let's face it, there are always characters like that. Dr. House is a perfect example. Heck, I wouldn't even watch that show if not for his obnoxious, self-centered obnoxiousness.

What does Dr.House have in common Gary Oak, Paul, the GSC rival, Harley, and several other characters from Pokemon who I don't feel like listing right now?

They're awful and obnoxious and you hate them and yet, they probably rank among some of your favorite characters for some reason, I really don't know why.

I think that Gary Oak, up until a certain point in the anime timeline, was/is a perfect example. Same with the GSC rival, only he acts far more like Paul than like Gary in the way he treats his Pokemon, or, rather, Paul acts more like him.
Harley fits under this category quite often too, if you ask me, only in a different way. He's showy and obnoxious and just plain creepy sometimes, whereas Gary is/was self-centered and obnoxious, and Paul and the GSC rival are condescending and apathetic.

Am I still making sense here? Any comments?
 
Er, ok let me get this straight. House is an ass, but he saves lives. Gary was also like that, yet he matured. But Paul? If you're talking about the good and bad of people, I can't tell what you mean about Paul and Harley.

I agree that Paul and Harley's character rock.
 
Jesse and James. Actually that's who I thought the thread was ABOUT going by the title.

Actually, most of Team Rocket falls into that--if not egomaniacs then at least superiority complexes (although Vicious has *both*, so hey)
 
I watch House because of Hugh Laurie's unbridled sexiness :p

I think Dr. Cox should also be mentioned here.
 
I think the reason why everyone seems to like the "jerk" characters is because everyone else in Pokemon is so nice.

Ash is a nice guy. Brock is a nice guy. Misty/May/Dawn (when they're not ticked off) are nice. Max and Tracey are nice.

Even all those filler characters are always so polite and friendly, sometimes it gets a bit tiring when every filler character is like, "Oh, thank you, you're the best friend ever, Ash!"

That's why whenever pokemon has a character out of the ordinary who acts like a jerk or jackass or whatever, they stand out and are fun to watch. Ash's character is also the most interesting when he's interacting with a character who doesn't like him.
 
Blackjack Palazzo said:
Jesse and James. Actually that's who I thought the thread was ABOUT going by the title.

Actually, most of Team Rocket falls into that--if not egomaniacs then at least superiority complexes (although Vicious has *both*, so hey)
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Not sure if they actually count so much. They have some kind of arrogance, but it's often weighed down by their spectacular failures. Plus being mean comes with their villanious roles.
 
Blackjack Palazzo said:
Jesse and James. Actually that's who I thought the thread was ABOUT going by the title.
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Are you kidding? Jessie and James have soft marshmallow innards.

Early Gary and Harley fit that bill to me because they obviously care for their Pokemon. Shinji, however? He's an obnoxious egomaniac with absolutely nothing to redeem himself.
 
I like the jerks too. Rafe (movie 7 guy) was my favorite, but Im a big Gary fan.

Drew was also jerkish! to a point, because he clearly did care about May. And Harley? hahaha! I love that guy!
 
Blackjack Palazzo said:
Soft marshmallow innards doesn't mean they're not obnoxious egomaniacs. All that time they spend primping? Especially Jesse now that she's a contest freak.
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Sure they are, but they're not made of the special Jerk Brand Gary and Harley are made of. So their obnoxious egomania just pales in light of their utter silliness and the goodness deep inside their heart (very, very, very deep, in Jessie's case. With James he's pretty much marshmallow with milk chocolate coating so it's not that deep at all).

Likewise, Paul is made of pure Asshole, so unless assholes and drama is your thing, it doesn't make us for his egomania.
 
Well, someone can be an obnoxious egomaniac without being a jerk.

Oh yes, I forgot another favorite--episode-verse Eusine. That's some Grade A Dickery right there. I mean, he came thisclose to backhanding Morty--who's probably one of the few friends he *has*--for trying to calm him down.
 
I thought this was going to be a thread about me. Disappointed, Bulba. D=<

I love the old Rimmer-type characters. Paul's my personal favourite D/P character, what with him being an utter git to Ash and his Pokémon. I mean that's just impressive, really.

I can imagine Mars being similar tbh.
 
>_< Gary wins, hands down. I bet if he dug deep enough, he could show some of his old jerkish attitude. XP
 
Obnoxious characters are fun because their personalities amplify the impact of getting their arse handed to them. Or, to use an old cliched phrase, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
 
The jerks stand out from the incredibly flat main characters and most CODs. However, I find that a lot of the jerks are pretty one-dimensional. It's not disappointing, but when Gary gets over his jerkiness in the course of 200 episodes, that requires a lot of patience to see any interesting personality changes.
 
We all like these guys as they provide a change from the crappy leads whose main function is to show kids how nice pokemon is.

Although personally, I would prefer them, Paul especially, to have a much more edgier personality.
 
JB88 said:
Er, ok let me get this straight. House is an ass, but he saves lives.
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Yes. I agree. BUt I mostly mean that he's awesome because he's obnoxious. And he is a fictional ass who saves fictional lives.

Gary was also like that, yet he matured.
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Yes. But I did say that he was like that up until a point in the anime timeline, and I was talking about Gary as he was before he matured.

But Paul? If you're talking about the good and bad of people, I can't tell what you mean about Paul and Harley.
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What do you mean, "But Paul?"? He released quite a few of his Pokemon just because they lost once. And, he had his other Pokemon attack his Chimchar(which is now Ash's)just to activate its Blaze ability and power up its moves!
But, I'm not saying Harley is bad, just obnoxious and a tad self-centered. And that's part of the reason why I like him, along with the fact that he is just plain bizarre sometimes.
 
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BUt I mostly mean that he's awesome because he's obnoxious. And he is a fictional character who saves fictional lives.
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And there is a root as to why he's so obnoxious. The lives and characters may be fictional, but what they come up with definitely aren't.

But I did say that he was like that up until a point in the anime timeline, and I was talking about Gary as he was before he matured.
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I wasn't going against this when I posted it. I was just seeing the parallels with your original post.

What do you mean, "But Paul?"? He released quite a few of his Pokemon just because they lost once. And, he had his other Pokemon attack his Chimchar(which is now Ash's)just to activate its Blaze ability and power up its moves!
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I had to look back at what you said first to understand this in context. Okay, when do we see any "good" from Paul? That's why I didn't get you earlier because I kept seeing this "bad-to-good" similarities with what you said.

And Harley's complicated because in terms of Pokemon he was never bad to them, but with humans he didn't get along well.
 
House kinda has a reason to be cranky all the time. Wilson did say he was like that before the infarction though.

If I were in House's situation, I'd just give up my leg instead of living a life of pain and addiction.

To each his own I guess.
 
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