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All of the Other Reindeer/Playing With

Basic Trope: A superhero or similarly heroic character is subject to hatred, distrust, fear and resentment from the public at large despite performing largely altruistic actions.

  • Straight: Despite apprehending criminals, rescuing people in need and diffusing potential threats to the safety of the city, Amazing Girl is largely subject to ridicule and distrust from the general public, and numerous public voices call for her arrest or confinement.
  • Exaggerated:
    • Despite saving the entire planet from complete annihilation several times over, Amazing Girl is routinely hunted by mobs of angry citizens and government death squads intent on nothing less than her complete extermination.
    • Abridged description: 0% Approval Rating.
  • Justified:
    • Amazing Girl's genuinely altrustic, noble and heroic actions provoke inferiority in the minds of the public, who feel they can't measure up to her example. This inferiority expresses itself as jealousy and resentment.
    • Prior to becoming a superhero, Amazing Girl was responsible for a major catastrophe resulting in the loss of many lives and the destruction of a large area, which she is attempting to redeem herself for.
    • Amazing Girl's methods of performing her altrustic actions are themselves questionable and / or illegal.
    • The public are being manipulated or brainwashed by a Villain with Good Publicity with a grudge against Amazing Girl.
    • Amazing Girl is an involuntary member of a group that is known for being Exclusively Evil, and previous experiments in trusting one of them turned out badly.
    • Amazing Girl is Attention Whore, and her attitude in front of camera make it impossible to like her.
    • While Amazing Girl does saves the day, her action draw attention from something far worse and the people known it.
  • Inverted:
    • The public love Amazing Girl, and never stop loving her no matter what she does.
    • Alternatively, it's Amazing Girl who mocks the citizens, no matter how much assistance and affection they give her during her rough times.
  • Subverted:
    • Amazing Girl manages to convince the people to trust her, earning their respect and admiration in the process.
    • It turns out only a small fraction of the people have issues with her. The vast majority are grateful and throw a parade in her honor.
  • Doubly Subverted:
  • Parodied: Amazing Girl can do absolutely nothing to please the people, whose criticisms and rejection of her take on increasingly and ludicrously petty dimensions.
  • Deconstructed: The lack of respect and suspicion she receives disillusions Amazing Girl, who retires in bitterness. Later, when a major catastrophe hits the city, there's no one around to save the day, and Amazing Girl sees no reason to lift a finger to help the ingrates who previously rejected her so snidely.
  • Reconstructed: But she does anyway, because she's a hero and that's what heroes do.
  • Averted: Amazing Girl has her detractors, but she also has plenty of admirers; there's a roughly even mix depending on the circumstances.
  • Enforced: "It's boring to have a superhero who everyone likes! We need to have loads of people hate our superhero to avoid this!"
  • Lampshaded: "No matter what I do, it seems like I can never please these people."
  • Invoked: Amazing Girl is shy and would feel undeserving of any admiration the population might shower upon her, so she makes herself appear flawed and unlikeable despite all the good she does, earning herself many enemies.
  • Defied: "Seriously, let's give Amazing Girl a chance before we all start whaling on her."
  • Discussed: "All right, it's time for me to start fighting crime!" "I hope people don't start hating you for it, like those ungrateful bastards in that comic book I read!"
  • Conversed: "I'm constantly amazed that Amazing Girl doesn't just give up on those hopeless ingrates."

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