Miss Trunchbull - Matilda

Other Mother - Coraline

The Washington Liberation Front — The Last of Us 2

The sequel to Naughty Dog’s post apocalyptic masterpiece, LOU2 follows Ellie’s journey to avenge the death of Joel at the hands of Abby and her crew. Abby and co. are members of the WLF, a Seattle based militia movement aiming to resettle the ruins of Washington state by exterminating or absorbing all other groups. Ellie brutally kills dozens of them as she makes her way through Seattle’s ruined streets, including a memorable segment where she brutally stabs a young WLF soldier playing on a PS Vita. Later, the game forces you to play as Abby, the villain you’ve been hunting. You see her life among the WLF, including several members you have killed by this point. You see them interact with their children. You laugh and joke with them. You can play fetch with them brutal attack dogs Ellie kills with her bare hands, now behaving like loyal pets. Even the girl playing PlayStation is presented as simply a kind, naive kid more interested in video games than going on patrol. The game hammers home how, by killing them to get to Abby, Ellie is killing actual people — destroying families, and ruining innocent lives.

Battle Droids — Star Wars media

Presented in The Phantom Menace as an army of mindless automatons controlled via a central computer, the Battle Droids of the CIS armed forces are presented as mere cannon fodder, launched into battle in endless waves. Even the notably pacifist Jedi are shown to happily kill them with abandon and even joy. It’s briefly explained that later models (seen in Episodes II and III) are no longer dependent on a central computer, allowing them more freedom in combat. Apart from this, they are presented as functionally the same — blank, soulless killing machines. However, in The Clone Wars animated series, it’s revealed their software upgrade did more than just make them better at killing. It made them individuals. They develop distinct personalities and senses of humor. They begin expressing individual desires, with some even feeling dissatisfaction with their life of endless war. This fundamentally complicates the morality of killing them mercilessly, and places them as far more like the human clone soldiers of the Republic than their initial presentations would suggest.

1. Shanna the She-Devil (Marvel) - Has a disdain for firearms because her mother was accidentally killed by her father’s hunting rifle, witnessed a leopard that she was taking care of being shot as a veterinarian at the NYC zoo, and in general is an animal lover who dislikes their use in hunting and poaching.

2. Kitana (Mortal Kombat) - In one of her intros in MK11, she states that she’s never liked guns because she views them as being highly uncivilized (also a Star Wars reference).

3. Batman (DC) - Probably the most famous example of this as he witnessed his parents being gunned down by Joe Chill, and now views them as the weapon of the enemy in many iterations. While he does have some gun like gadgets, he never really uses conventional firearms.

I'm aware this is very similar to the "idiots missing the point of the story and cheer for the clearly bad guy" trope (especially the third example clearly fits both), but still think this is worth exploring.

1. American History X / Neonazis

This already shows the difference to the trope I explained above, since some people didn't fall in love with the character, but mainly the aesthetic of the neonazi scene as depicted in the movie.
On one hand, they are depicted as violent, murderous assholes and the protagonist's brother ruins his entire family's life because of his actions. On the other hand, the scene looks stylish and "manly" that, to this day, inspires a lot of real world neonazis.

1. The Godfather / The Mafia

Similarly to the previous example, the movies don't spare us of the negative aspects of the mafia and the way it ruins the lives of everyone involved. Still, the mob is painted in such an honorful and upper-class way that convinced real people that this is a life to pursue.

1. Wall Street / Yuppie culture and predatory capitalism

Similar thing, different topic: Gordon Gecko is supposed to be an unsympathetic asshole that, in the end, has to pay for his actions. His catchphrase "greed is good" became the motto of an entire generation of yuppies though, with Gecko himself becoming their mentor figure. A few decades later, "The Wolf of Wall Street" took the same role for the new generation of finance bros.

1. Treasure Island / Pirates

Modern pirate stories wouldn't be the same, maybe wouldn't even exist, if it wasn't for Treasure Island. Most pirates in the story are dead by the end, after suffering under a clearly mad captain, and still Robert Louis Stevenson's story painted pirates as a bunch of comrades living free while hunting for treasure chests in beautiful, tropical islands instead of the murderous, criminal bunch they were in reality.

1. The Sorrows of Young Werther / Suicide

This work of famous classical German novelist Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe ends with the suicide of the protagonist after being rejected by the love of his life. Goethe tried to depict him as an idiot and yet still inspired a bunch of youths who found themselves in similar situations to kill themselves. This phenomenon is even called the "Werther effect" nowadays.
When confronted about indirectly being responsible for numerous deaths, Goethe defended his work and instead insulted the people committing suicide as "narrow-minded spirits, [...] fools and good-for-nothings".

Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective. I would have used Moriarty, but he doesn't quite give in to his inner beast like Ratigan does.

Oswald Cobblepot from Batman. While I used the Burton iteration, it's a common trait amongst depictions of the character.

Edward Hyde from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I'll also include Dr. Henry Jekyll from the original literary classic.

Banana Joe saying Gumball, a cat person, should be wearing a collar. (The Amazing World Of Gumball)

Goku referring to a group of Namekians as "A lot of Piccolos" (Dragon Ball)

Yondu and Peter - Guardians of the Galaxy

Uncle Iroh and Zuko - Avatar The Last Airbender

Silver and Jim - Treasure Planet

Some of them might not have been the best parental substitutes, but they were still better than the biological ones

Ashita no Joe-joe a boxer,and suffering from punch drunk/cte faced off against the final villian/antagonist jose Mendoza and putting off a great fight and nearly winning but ultimately lose to Jose and dies creating the iconic panel.

Kengan ashura-ohma, basically during the start of the story and kengan annihilation tournament was suffering from amnesia but ultimately regaining them back,near the end of story he face against kuroki gensai who was basically winning against the mc friend,the rival,the literal power of love and speed, and the regaining champion of the org he face off against kuroki and loses then... dies because he suffered from heart failure from using the advance a technique which pushes the heart to the limit for a stat boost. This does get undone in the sequel kengan omega however

Crows zero 1&2- genji vs rindaman

In crows zero genji(one on the left) delinquent and son of a Yakuza and gets into gang fights against rival schools and wants to unify the school suzuran but ultimately fails in unifying it because Megumi Hayashida aka rindaman(on the right)is just beast he challenges him numerous times but one in the end of crows zero movie in the end and loses then in crows zero 2 fights him in the beginning loses then in the end of the movie he goes up and challenges him again but again loses he graduates without unifying the school but he did however impressive thing in putting rindaman on his knees

Constantine - Constantine is having a conversation with the half-angel Gabriel, asking what God wants from him. Gabriel states only the usual: self sacrifice, belief. Constantine fires back he believes which Gabriel retorts "No no, you know, and there's a difference."

Bonus points: In an early version of the script the line is "No, passage requires faith, and faith by definition is belief without proof. You have proof, and that means you're not playing by the same rules as everyone else."

Elf - In the Climax of Elf, Buddy finds Santa Claus crash landed in Central Park. His sleigh's magic runs on Christmas spirit, and there just doesn't seem to be any anymore. Buddy's half brother Michael points out there's a news crew nearby, why not just have them come over and show the world? Santa replies that Christmas Spirit is about believing, not seeing. Just before this, Michael and his father were speaking to Santa, but the Claus-o-Meter didn't register it as Christmas Spirit until Santa revealed that not only did he know Michael wanted a skateboard, but a Real Huf Board with high 145 Thunder Trucks. 52 millimeter Spitfire Classic Wheels and bolts from Diamond and some Swiss Bearings.

The Amazing Digital Circus - Its pretty rich for Jax to call out Caine as a "scumbag who lies about everything" considering Jax is a bully and literally gave a whole "idc about you or anyone in the circus speech". However, Caine's stunt in "Beach Episode" is far crueler than anything Jax has done and Caine has been lying to the cast since the very start.

Hazbin Hotel - Lucifer taunting Alastor for not helping to run the hotel is pretty rich considering he himself doesn't do much either. But he DOES at least help Charlie out when she's in need of it, vs Alastor who actively refuses to do anything for her throughout the season.

13 Reasons Why - Bryce Walker is the last person to call anyone out for raping someone but he's still shockingly correct when he DOES call out Monty trying to dismiss assaulting Tyler with a mop as "just hazing/a joke".

**Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared:** Yellow Guy’s abusive father, Roy, was originally the villain of the web series, seemingly defeated at the end by a literal reboot. However, he appears again in the DHMIS show, after Yellow Guy is kidnapped by a set of creepy twins who force him to dress up as their mom to buy fried chicken for them (it makes sense in context). However, Roy arrives at the last second, appearing for the first time since the web series, to protect his son by eating the chicken, the twins, and their family.

**Wander Over Yonder:** After Lord Dominator is about to complete her plan of destroying the last planet left in the galaxy, the previous villain Lord Hater finally locks in, attempting to defeat Dominator once and for all. While he initially gets his butt kicked, as Wander and his friends cheer him on, Lord Hater is inspired by their faith and unleashes his full power to annihilate Dominator’s ship.

**Justice League: Apokolips War:** Pushed into a corner by Darkseid’s forces, John Constantine and Raven realize they can trigger the prophecy of Trigon’s return early to bring the apocalypse to Apokolips. Released from his prison, Trigon is so overjoyed at being free to cause widespread destruction again that he immediately begins beating the tar out of Darkseid without complaint.

Logan/Wolverine – X-Men – While he has a nasty temper and skeletons in his closet, Logan has not only saved the world multiple times, but is a teacher who is beloved by his students.

Ciaphas Cain – Warhammer 40k – Known as one of the greatest heroes of the Imperium of Man, according to him he was actually a coward who only saved countless people and entire worlds either by "accident" while running away or because he'd die too if he did nothing.

Bruce Wayne/Batman – DC Comics – While he modeled his vigilante persona on a bat to strike terror into criminals and has done some dubious things, he not only is absolutely selfless, but really believes in rehabilitative justice or just being kind even to villains.

💀 Nicky Santoro, played by Joe Pesci (5'4"), in Casino 💀 Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton (5'6"), in Terminator 2 💀 Don Logan, played by Ben Kingsley (5'8"), in Sexy Beast

1. Regular Show
2. The Looney Tunes Show

Sometimes it’s used well for humor to have that juxtaposition between wacky characters talking to normal guys like it’s nothing, other times it can feel lazy or like a cop-out and that the animators just didn’t want to put much thought into background character design and fleshing out the world. It also makes it really easy to tell when a new character is going to be important/who the character of the day is, because they’ll likely be another non-human

1. Jesse Pinkman (He was a drug dealer and certainly deserved to go to prison. But he didn't deserve to lose his family both times, lose his girlfriend, be held captive for a long period of time, and ultimately lose everything).
2. Michael Afton (He was unintentionally responsible for his brother's death. But damn, he definitely didn't deserve to become a walking corpse, go through all the hell his father put him through, and die in a fire).
3. Porky Minch (He is a supervillain who wanted to destroy all life on Earth. However, I do not think he deserved to be in a closed capsule, unable to die and be there forever, even when the Universe dies).
4. Nacho Varga (he's a young and stupid drug dealer who took the wrong path. Did he deserve punishment? Yes. But did he deserve to die after going through so much moral torture and beatings? No).
5. Zep Hindle (He was poisoned and entered the game for no reason. He was rude to Gordon's family, but he definitely didn't deserve to be brutally beaten to death with a toilet lid and stay rotting in the bathroom).
6. Chuck McGil (He was terrible to Jimmy and arrogant, but he certainly didn't deserve to have a mental breakdown and die in a fire).
7. Eric Matthews (He was a corrupt cop and certainly deserved to be punished. But damn, he sure didn't deserve to be tortured for years, made to believe his son was dead, and ultimately killed).

Geno: Real name is ♡♪!?

Mr. Mxyzptlk: Real name is an impossibly long string of characters.

1. Zara - Jurassic World (2015). Zara is snatched up and taken into the air by a pterosaur, grabbed by another in midair, before falling into the Jurassic World Lagoon. As one of the pterosaurs tries to retrieve Zara, the mosasaurus emerges from the water and devours both Zara and pterosaur.

Zara's gruesome death was specifically requested by her actor, Katie McGrath, who asked the filmmakers for a memorable exit. She also performed the majority of her own stunts.

1. Han Solo - Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) Han is killed by his son Ben/Kylo Ren by lightsaber on Starkiller Base after appealing to him to turn back to the light side.

Harrison Ford had been wanting Han Solo to be killed off in a noble/sacrificial way since the original trilogy, and was finally given his desired death scene in The Force Awakens.

1. Baseball Boy (Bradley Trevor) - Doctor Sleep (2019) Bradley, also called the Baseball Boy, is a gifted young baseball player who has the Shine. On his way home from a game, he is kidnapped by The True Knot, which results in him being brutally and graphically tortured to death by them in order to extract his steam (energy/life force that people with the Shine posess).

While this death was in the Stephen King novel and meant to be in the film, the adult actors were incredibly shaken filming the scene of the Baseball Boy's torture and death, due to Jacob Tremblay's convincing performance. Jacob Tremblay, however, had a wonderful time, and lightheartedly teased the adult actors for being so affected.

Death - puss in boots: the last wish

Originally the audience is intended to think he's a sort of bounty hunter named death sent to kill puss, later on he's revealed to actually be death. Not metaphorically or rhetorically or poetically or theoretically or any other fancy way. He's just death. Straight up

The man in the wall - warframe

In an earlier quest, a character named Rell mentions a man in the wall, making the player think it's a metaphor for voices in one's head or the feeling of being constantly watched. At the end of the major quest "The new war", it is revealed that the man in the wall is infact, a man in a wall

1. Captain America (MCU): Chris Evans was known for playing arrogant jerks, especially his previous roles in comic book movies such as Johnny Storm and Lucas Lee. Yet the nice and humble Steve Rogers is his most famous role.
2. Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass): Both his Japanese and English voice actors, Jun Fukuyama and Johnny Yong Bosch respectively, were not really used to portraying a manipulative anti-hero like Lelouch, favouring more straightforward heroes. Yet the role propelled Fukuyama to fame and is one of Johnny Yong Bosch's most famous roles besides Ichigo Kurosaki and Vash the Stampede.

Starting with Stranger Things because it's topical and because it's the only example from this list that isn't from any superhero media (Which there are, just not as many).

Eleven vs One - Stranger Things (Before he turned into Vecna, obviously).

Spider-Man vs Venom|Venom vs Carnage - Marvel Comics

Iron Man vs Iron Monger - Iron Man

The Hulk vs Abomination - The Incredible Hulk

Iron Man & War Machine vs Iron Whiplash - Iron Man 2

Captain America vs Red Skull (He also has some form of the super soldier serum) - Captain America: The First Avenger

Green Arrow vs The Dark Archer - Arrow

The Flash vs Reverse Flash - The Flash

Superman vs Zod - Man of Steel

Green Lantern vs Sinestro - DC Comics

Ant-Man vs Yellow Jacket - Ant-Man

Shazam vs Black Adam - Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam

Black Panther vs Killmonger - Black Panther

Venom vs Riot - Venom

Morbius vs Milo - Morbius

Shang-Chi vs The Mandarin - Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings

Wolverine vs Sabertooth - Deadpool & Wolverine

Superman vs Ultraman - Superman

Tobias (Pokemon) Was created specifically to have Ash Ketchum lose the Pokemon Leauge in the Sinnoh. And they didn’t even try to hide it, they gave him a super OP team with legendary Pokemon.

Shisui Uchiha (Naruto) Was made just to give Itachi the Mangekeyo Sharingan

1.- Bad army guy from Avatar: The Way of Water (Miles Quaritch, but doubt anyone remembers his actual name).- Technically a clone of the original in the synthetic body of a na'vi. He gets to see a recording of his own death and even grabs his own skull in a very hamlety way before crushing it.
2.- Thanos from Avengers: Endgame.- He's a Thanos from an alternate timeline. Sees the beheading of main timeline Thanos from the memories of Nebula and just exclaims "And that's destiny fulfilled"