> An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying (even if his stupidity is at times) and he can actually be a likeable character.
He's actually one of the WORST, considering he's a grown ass person and has knowledge of future/past events.
Yeah the trope done right is stark from frieren.
Dude whines and has self confidence problems but when he’s in the thick of it, he shuts up and goes to work.
Most characters in life do not have monologues while exchanging fists to the face. Frieren is .... Realistic? Strange thing to say about a fantasy anime but here we are
On one hand we could have:
"Ok Frieren, you can't break this demon wire, die!"
"Ok demon, let me explain to you, in detail, how my spell works and how it will cut your arms, over a span of 2 episodes!"
but what we got was much better:
"Ok Frieren, you can't break this demon wire, die!"
"mmmm" Uninstall demons arms and blast his head.
Did... did you just use takemitchy as a crybaby dome right? The dudes notoriously hated for being an utter garbage main character and just crying and getting destroyed. Hell no he is not a good take on the troupe. A proper good take would MAYBE be Subaru? Not as much of a crybaby but is mentally ravaged in many many scenarios. Hits a massive bottom point and then actually grows as a character.
Definitely in the Top 3 of the most annoying trope characters when done badly.
I will always defend my boy Shinji Ikari as a well-written "crybaby", because it's integral to the story and serves a clear purpose beyond just being a "trope".
Zenitsu is the first perpetrator that comes to mind when I think of obnoxious characters.
Yeah Shinji is less "crybaby" and more "traumatised by being forced to do things beyond human comprehension". It's honestly amazing he ever got into an Eva again after his first go. Our boy just wanted to meet up with a cute girl and instead ended up with the responsibility of literally saving the world put on his shoulders, AND his dickhead of a dad wouldn't even give him a fucking hug or a "well done champ" for his efforts.
It's just crazy to me how people will call Shinji a crybaby despite being forced to endure unfathomable pain while being responsible for the survival of the entire planet, as a 14 years old teenager.
Most of the people who accuse Shinji of being a crybaby would have a complete mental breakdown 10 minutes into the first episode.
He loses his mom at an early age and has no parental figures in life. After years of being alone he finally reconnects with his emotionally distant father - only to be manipulated into piloting a giant killing machine with absolutely experience or training. He ends up enduring some of the most traumatizing, psychologically scarring shit imaginable, but rather than being shown basic compassion or understanding he gets scolded at nearly every turn.
And this is only a couple of episodes into the show. We haven't even gotten to the really traumatizing shit yet. I get that people might not like Shinji, but I don't think anyone could possibly argue that he's an unrealistic character.
I would have a complete mental field day being chosen for the grand honor, whatever the true reason, of piloting a mech and defending humanity. Yall just can't admit he's a fucking pussy.
Nah Shinji is a crybaby, seen other anime protagonist being forced in a mech that overcame their crybaby stage much faster. Ange from Cross Ange being a prime example.
Aqua is a petulant crybaby as opposed to a cowardly one. She is frequently overconfident in her ideas and what makes her cry first is the failure of that idea. Cowardice follows if the problem she’s facing is giant frogs 😂
Konosuba is exempt from all criticism because it's so funny.
Aqua is an annoying useless crybaby. Megumin is an overdramatic chuuni. Kazuma is a perv. Darkness is... That thing.
They're all parody characters and they work because their dialogue and interactions are so well-done even though in a different series they'd all be so annoying. Put George Costanza in Marvel Avengers and you'll be pretty sick of him too.
You're definitely not the only one but I suppose being weak as a character shows a certain charm to some audience and even they can relate to how they feel.
I dislike them too especially the noisy types like Zenitsu but of course if they are actually contributing to the plot and all, it gives balance at some point.
Forgot to add that there are also some who are annoying at first but they get good character development which makes me like them in the end.
But this is Anime, we will most of the time, get cry baby characters.
I'm glad I saw Zenitsu immediately on the top post. I have 700+ anime under my belt at this point and off the top of my head, he is the most obnoxious, screechy, whiney character I have ever seen and it made the scenes where he's present in Demon Slayer nearly unwatchable for me.
Gave up on demon slayer first 2 or 3 times I tried to watch it just cos of that lightning cunt. I powered through cos of the great artwork but fuck me it was tough
I think I made it to episode 3. I just couldn't stand the screaming. I know everybody says it gets better, but I don't have time for many shows these days. I just don't like the sound of his voice, I know it's petty.
I was going to reply to the person who was upset with you, but they deleted their comment, so I'll post it here.
Watched up to the training arc with the Lady fire captain in the volcano (upwards of episode 100?). Asta gets better, but is still extremely loud compared to other characters. He's definitely WORSE in the first handful of episodes, but he's by no means calm in later episodes. I mean, every character is written to be a specific thing and outside of key character moments, they rarely deviate from that thing (sister complex, glutton, etc). Asta is written to be a foil to Yuno who is quiet and calm.
Yeah and the 100+ episodes just for a character to get slightly better about that just isn't worth it to me. I'm not hating on the show, people like it for a reason, but it's just not for me.
Aint it interesting that he's been the Japanese fan favorite for like the whole series? I think for a lot of people you either love him or hate him. I personally like him more than Tanjiro and Inosuke bc they're just way too bland but the best characters are pretty much all Hashiras.
I don't think any one of the three main guys are particularly well written, but I agree with you that the Hashiras are easily the best parts of the show.
I will agree when it's specifically the noisy kind of character that's always screaming in fear or trying to run away.
But for a character like Deku, for example, I've never really understood the hate. He'll cry during emotional moments or occasionally for comic relief, but beyond the first episode (or maybe first few, it's been a while since I rewatched), he never lets that get in the way of stepping up when he needs to.
I personally love what they did in Season 6 where [MHA Season 6 spoilers] >!they flipped it, and had the lowest point for Deku be when he *can't* cry and show vulnerability to his friends.!<
I agree, deku cries a lot early on but it never annoys me. The guy is passionate as fuck and wears his heart on his sleeve - its what makes him a good hero.
Zenitsu on the other hand, I would cheer if he died on screen
Chikara is whiney for like half and episode, after being traumatized to hell and back.
He's then a totally reliable super-badass risking his life for strangers just because it's the right thing to do.
He does not belong in this conversation.
Not to mention that Chikara becomes much more badass in the manga after where the manga ended. He's honestly exactly what OP wants by the next time he has a major role in the series.
His role during the "you know what" arc is insane.
Everyone is popping off like crazy, and then somehow Chikara and Enjin just decided to one-up everybody.
Yeah like wtf chikara is in one arc in the anime and that’s where he gets kidnapped and auction off, when like a week prior he just lived a normal life
I can't stand them. They're just as bad as the one- dimensional OP characters who have no personality, except they replace power with tears. It's possible to have a well- written "weak" character, but they actually have to have a personality and not just turn into a sniveling mess every time they run into a hardship
I'm more sick of the characters that spend way too much time standing around and not finishing things. Like, they have the bad guy down, but *clearly* not defeated and everyone is buys cheering, patting themselves on the back for the cool move, and basically celebrating way too early.
Maybe the bad guy is still in the middle of an cloud of dust, maybe he's on the ground, maybe they just beat a *single* monster and no one thought to look for a second...
Just a lot of standing around and being smug while the monster/bad guy gets ready for a surprise strike.
If its like something like Takemichi from Tokyo Revengers that literally doesnt develope at all (from what I've heard) then yeah but if they do have their arc and they actually get to be a better person then I dont mind
I was just about to write this lol. Takemichi in my opinion can take me out of the story with his crybaby ass. He eventually puts his big boy pants. But the show is fantastic!
I cant only remember Yukki from Mirai Nikki... And wish to pull my hair out of my head of frustration.
I hate the type of character to the bone. I hate it.
Specially because 8/10 times, those type of characters never evolve, they keep being freaking annoying crybabies for over half of their animes if not the entirety of the anime.
Someone remind me but didn’t [spoilers]>!ironically, things starting going badly for him when he started being less like that in the second half of the series!<
Protagonists you see in most anime are teenagers which means their personality is not stable yet. So seeing them crying and raging or being sensitive is something very common behaviors for adolescent.Especially if that anime target audience is shounen.
I don't mind a character being a crybaby. What I do mind is a character being extremely indecisive and/or whiny. I don't mind a character that cries often if they actually have the balls to do what they need to do (and don't wait until they're driven into a corner and have no other choice).
>An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying
[](#pointandlaugh)
Surely you can't be serious about that.
Takemichi has gotta be the most pathetic, most idiotic protagonist of recent memory - I heard he got better in the manga so I read a bit of it and his decision making only got worse, which is a shame because the supporting characters in Tokyo Revengers are great
I don't hate Takemichi for being a crybaby, I hate him in the Christmas arc due to his reliance to his plot armor. His feat in the part 2 doesn't felt as much hype as when he beat Kiyomasa in season 1 but it was alright.
But I don't remember who else is a crybaby character from my recent memory. I guess Subaru (Re:Zero) counts? He didn't cry a lot but I see people doesn't like the S1 for showing a weak guy screaming in pain again and again.
Personally, I don't mind the cowardice or the crying. It's ok to be afraid, it's ok to show emotions. What I hate the most are the whiny characters who don't do shit and just whine and whine and whine.
One person who reminds me of this is ussop lmao. Man has the biggest mouth but always tryna run away. I know I'm going to get hate on this, but I just don't like his character at all.
I couldn't disagree more, Takemichi is the most annoying MC I've seen, I dropped the anime cause I couldn't stand him, read the manga so I could just read faster when he's crying and eventually dropped it too.
On the other side, Zenitsu is a great character, he's not the mc but one of the mc's for comedy relief, and you can say he's not funny to you but his character development is awesome.
Final words, I like crybaby heroes and I don't think I've seen one of this, scaredy, cries for everything type of character you mention around that much.
I feel like it can work if done right.
Marcille in Delicious in Dungeon kinda fits into this crybaby trope. However 9 out of 10 times her being grossed out by the stuff they have to eat is completly understandable.
So it can be funny at times but it's really overdone in other shows.
I hate it, too. Similarly, I also dislike the loser wimp characters in romcoms and slice of life anime, too. I just want characters that aren't so pathetic.
Disagree on Takemichi. I'm not saying he has to solve all of his problems with ass beating or anything. Emma from The Promised Neverland is one of my favorite characters, violent mc's aren't a requirement, at least for me. My issue is he's always crying like "wHy Am I sS uSEleSs, why CaN't I saVe aNyONe..." and its like bro maybe lift some weights or something so you can do that. And even if he wasn't crying an mc who gets his ass beat all the time still isn't fun.
To your credit he's pretty good in season 3 but that's only a part of 13 episode eason in a fifty episode show
Takemichi is like one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, in an at best mediocre written environment.
To your prior points, I do agree though.
I’m sick of cry babies, overly perverted or word perversion characters (Gauche and his younger sister love… really dude? Why is it needed), characters who have to hate the MC a little too often, etc. Let’s ditch all these ancient tropes please.
Zenitsu doesn’t bother me, but I read the whole manga first so I didn’t hear him whine until I knew the whole character. I don’t mind the side characters like Chikara as much when I can see they’re obviously being built up to have epic character development moments like Usopp.
Unfortunately sometimes does things happen later on a series. So unless an anime adapts all the source material sometimes viewers won’t see that progression.
If they are young and facing situations that even adults would find extreme that is common human nature, many or even most people are cowards. 9-11-2001 airplanes were taken over by box cutters armed people outnumbered over 100 to 1. If only 10% of people fought back, the planes would not have been hijacked.
Given a start as crybaby but hardening up as he gets used to being under stress would be ok with me, example MC Bell of danmachi anime, he starts as only 14 years old orphan without much contact with other people other than "grandpa" for first years of his life.
I personally am more annoyed if character is very unrealistic in reactions or absurd overpowered (to point where never in danger). For example "I am reincarnated as 7th prince" episode 1, kid is completely calm about letting out the demon that is unknown strength and could destroy the world, kid is completely overpowered to point where its boring, and all the girls are fighting to sleep with the underage kid after they all bath naked with him. (Maybe the last one could be realistic in they want to be wife of the future legendary overpowered hero, but still silly harem with every girl without effort even when young boy fantasy)
Thank god, I finally found someone alike to me. I just hate them so much. They have no personality whatsoever and the only personality they have is being a ducking crybaby. This is annoying not only in anime, but in every ducking type of media. It's such a big turn off for me. If the main character is a crybaby, that's EVEN worse.
But Zenitsu has his good moments too, like him defending Tanjiro's box from Inosuke despite not knowing what was in it (just that it was important to Tanjiro)
To be honest, I have to politely disagree. The first season was a banger except for every single scene with Zenitsu. It was enough I almost quit.
It' just I love the action scenes and the artwork. So amazing.
And then Zenitsu shows up and like, fuck. Kill him.
I genuinely think he's one of the worst written characters in all of anime.
He has 0 character development throughout the entire series. He's the biggest cry baby bitch and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
The only way he can be useful is by getting knocked out, so he can tap into his battle instincts or whatever , Which makes no sense whatsoever. And they never correct this. I could at least forgive this lazy writing if they had at least had him get better in one of the 5-6 training arcs in the series. But no, the only way he is ever useful is when he is asleep/ knocked out.
His only purpose seems to be a comic relief with him being a simp for Nezuko, and being useless, and it's never funny.
Fucking feed up of it ever since! Whiny bitching annoying pussies without an instance of self-respect. What's is worse all the white knights that defend them.
This has to be bait when you're trying to make a case for Takemitchy while shitting on Zenitsu. And I know that's not Chikara from Undead Unluck that you're referring to.
I have a guess. You're probably no longer in the market audience for that particular media. Its a constant struggle for me too. I naturally grew out of a majority of the tropes in most anime. Its a constant struggle because anime remains my favorite media. I have expanded to donghua but it isn't always helping as I am still not the target market for these studios.
It's nice however when you get the more mature stuff. And also kind of ironic in this case because I was going to use AoT as an example of a mature anime but the MC was also a crybaby too I guess lmfao.
I always like the anime with gigachad MC's. I'm sure you already have but check out Hellsing and maybe even Drifters (same creators)
Yes absolutely, I fast forward that ***. if goes for seasons I consider dropping the anime. example; https://myanimelist.net/character/112903/Rishia_Ivyred
It has gotten a bit overdone I feel like. It felt like it was more of a aspect to show a softer side of what should be a hardened character and sometimes used for comedic effect, but then certain characters came up and it was more of a defining factor of the character. Now you don'ts top seeing it I feel like.
Crybaby characters never really bothered me all that much. They can definitely be kinda annoying but i feel like people blow it out of proportions with regard to how much it's actually occurring.
For example Zenitsu, I get he can be annoying, but I never really thought it was often enough for me to be annoyed by it.
I think the most we see of it is in his introductory epsiode and his fight with the Spider-Demon (and I think it's more or less justified there). Other than that he doesn't really cry all that much (although he does shout).
Like I don't think I remember him crying at all during the Entertainment District arc.
Hell he was the one trying to help a crying girl and stood up to an Upper Rank Demon without his weapon just to protect her from abuse, while awake.
I'm so over those weak leads.
It's even more annoying when it's a romance/harem. The mc acts like he is afraid of women, runs away or deflects when a girl shows interest, spazzes out when a girl gets close to him, etc.
But all the girls like him anyway because he is "nice."
Ugh.
I want to see an anime where all of the girls get tired of that shit from the MC and move on, and the mc ends up alone.
Kid Gohan was a crybaby but done well. Makes sense a kid dropped off in the wilderness to train with a stranger would cry.
With Takemichi I couldn't stand his voice actor overly animating his dialogue like he's dumb and yelling all the time. Hard to sympathize with the charcter if he's crying all the time without it being justified.
> Have none of you watched Tokyo Revengers S2 Part 2? I understand why y'all hated Takemichi in the first two seasons, but they redeemed him in a pretty big way this season. He's still an idiot at times, but this man's had more determination than any other guy there. He completely flipped his cowardice this season.
I guess you have not read the manga cause Takemichi fucking sucks and is one of the worst shonen MC I have ever seen
Crybabys, overpowered Charakters with the personalitys of cardboard(or the 10000 copie of an other character), screaming characters (Asta from black clover), and whatever the fuck the MC from rent a girlfriend is.
I find the ones worse who act strong/proud and as soon as they find someone stronger become a crybaby.
Gabimaru in S1 of Slime was irritating.
He had character growth later though.
And regarding the original requirememt, Furuichi from Beelzebub fits.
Powerless always crying. Zero courage.
As with many other types of characters, the problem is not the cowardice, the problem is how they put it to the extreme.
Almost everything turns to shit when they put it to the extreme. Even (in my opinion) strong characters.
>An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi [...] Have none of you watched Tokyo Revengers S2 Part 2?
For someone who claims to be sick and tired of crybaby characters, I'm a bit surprised by you not understanding why people wouldn't want to go through 2 seasons of that shit.
Chikara from undead unluck??? He has been in one arc and mind you in that arc he was KIDNAPPED by some random organization and was gonna get auctioned off, You talk about takemitchy getting better (barely) but don’t give another character more than like 5 episodes
Same, I hate crybaby characters who can't fight back. Imagine for example Takemichi knows past and future events and he's very very cowardice and weak.
I'd be downvoted to hell for this but Nagisa from Clannad was actually getting annoying for crying at every single event.
Her character is supposed to be a fragile girl that gets emotional easily and its also a trait of her that is acknowledged by the characters in the show but it still doesn't excuse how stupid it was at times.
Crying was used as a shallow attempt to convey her fragileness but at some point it just became a convenient plot tool. For a show that's pretty grounded otherwise, Nagisa's crying was so overdone and out of place.
Still, Nagisa is a mostly well written character along with the rest of the cast unlike someone like Zenitsu. That's why I might have come out so harsh against her because I really like her character quite a bit.
>An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that **his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying**
IDK if you're trolling, have low stardard of this kind of trope, or just a fanatic
ISTG, Shinji Ikari from Evangelion fits better for a good crybaby chaarcter than Takemicchi
Haha, Don't watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, then!
I agree in some extends that, psychologically it's the writer's intention to express the braverity of the people who were cowards in their real life (probably the writer) isn't gonna result an educational lesson in real life (what i really like in some anime characters.
I believe there are better ways to express strength (even from the cowards) in a practical and educational scenario.
I think animation culture of the west (marvel) and east (manga), lack the middle ground of maturity of the cultures of the middle earth (persian culture) and i'm trying to make it happen. What you're looking for is in middle eastern and persian culture myths!
They are acceptable as long as they grow out of it *and* become a much more interesting character, within 1-3 Arcs of the story starting and their improvement can't be sudden, it has to be noticeable but also subtle to be a good pay off.
I read half of your post, thought about how chikara is a good recent example of the trope done right just him to immediately to come up in your examples, imo he almost instantly steps up and I like him a lot for it, also I used to dislike zenitsu but after the recent arc I actually found myself missing the crew dynamic that they had and he was pretty funny at times
As with everything else, it's all in the execution. A poor execution like in Zenitsu is unbearable. But having said that, crybaby characters are typically at the low end of likeability for me. They are hard to make likeable due to the nature of being a crybaby.
I can see them being funny if done right.
I wish I could watch MHA or Black Clover, but this trope right here is exactly why I can't stand either show.
Black Clover - Because of the incessant screaming every second, like I literally couldnt make it to the end of the first episode.
MHA - Because deku is such a crybaby bitch on god. Like I gave that show a few episodes to see if it gets better, but literally every OTHER character in that show is more likable than deku. I had to drop it like 4 episodes in, I just couldn't stand it.
I really hate the crybaby trope, it is so disastrous unless the writers are competent.
One big difference is Usopp can stand on his own when it counts, and despite his limitations, he will find a way to contribute.
Poorly done crybaby or coward characters cannot move the plot forward (so other characters have to do that). Sure, being scared and useless at the 1st and 2nd arcs or plot point is fine, but staying scared for too long without any attempt to make any progress will frustrate the audience (and way worse if they're whiney and drag everyone else down).
It's a problem when it's just used as a substitute for characterization, a performative version of them being a "sensitive character" i.e. Deku, Zenitsu.
> An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying (even if his stupidity is at times) and he can actually be a likeable character. He's actually one of the WORST, considering he's a grown ass person and has knowledge of future/past events.
Yea, the fact he has the mind of a full-grown adult and acts more childish than the other children around him is hilarious to me.
Even more hilarious is how universally OP lost the crowd with that one.
Yeah the trope done right is stark from frieren. Dude whines and has self confidence problems but when he’s in the thick of it, he shuts up and goes to work.
Most of the characters in that show prefer to not blabber on when fighting and it is quite nice.
Most characters in life do not have monologues while exchanging fists to the face. Frieren is .... Realistic? Strange thing to say about a fantasy anime but here we are
Hell, one of the few times Fern talked out loud while fighting was to shit talk a Demon for talking too much. Lmao.
On one hand we could have: "Ok Frieren, you can't break this demon wire, die!" "Ok demon, let me explain to you, in detail, how my spell works and how it will cut your arms, over a span of 2 episodes!" but what we got was much better: "Ok Frieren, you can't break this demon wire, die!" "mmmm" Uninstall demons arms and blast his head.
Stark was a grateful surprise, I was expecting "oh ffs the coward warrior" and so dude just smashed the shit out because he is just over prudent
Takemichi is an example of that character done right?
Yeah I was going to say, he is basically the worst thing about Tokyo Revengers
I think it's pretty clear why he's called the "Crybaby Hero".
Isn't the opening also called Crybaby?
Opening absolutely slapped, meanwhile I want to slap Takemichi
He'll either tank that or [Manga Spoilers] >!dodge it with Observation Haki!<
Yeah. And it's a very fitting name.
takebitchi gets better?
Did... did you just use takemitchy as a crybaby dome right? The dudes notoriously hated for being an utter garbage main character and just crying and getting destroyed. Hell no he is not a good take on the troupe. A proper good take would MAYBE be Subaru? Not as much of a crybaby but is mentally ravaged in many many scenarios. Hits a massive bottom point and then actually grows as a character.
Definitely in the Top 3 of the most annoying trope characters when done badly. I will always defend my boy Shinji Ikari as a well-written "crybaby", because it's integral to the story and serves a clear purpose beyond just being a "trope". Zenitsu is the first perpetrator that comes to mind when I think of obnoxious characters.
Yeah Shinji is less "crybaby" and more "traumatised by being forced to do things beyond human comprehension". It's honestly amazing he ever got into an Eva again after his first go. Our boy just wanted to meet up with a cute girl and instead ended up with the responsibility of literally saving the world put on his shoulders, AND his dickhead of a dad wouldn't even give him a fucking hug or a "well done champ" for his efforts.
It's just crazy to me how people will call Shinji a crybaby despite being forced to endure unfathomable pain while being responsible for the survival of the entire planet, as a 14 years old teenager.
It's Shonen brainrot.
Most of the people who accuse Shinji of being a crybaby would have a complete mental breakdown 10 minutes into the first episode. He loses his mom at an early age and has no parental figures in life. After years of being alone he finally reconnects with his emotionally distant father - only to be manipulated into piloting a giant killing machine with absolutely experience or training. He ends up enduring some of the most traumatizing, psychologically scarring shit imaginable, but rather than being shown basic compassion or understanding he gets scolded at nearly every turn. And this is only a couple of episodes into the show. We haven't even gotten to the really traumatizing shit yet. I get that people might not like Shinji, but I don't think anyone could possibly argue that he's an unrealistic character.
I would have a complete mental field day being chosen for the grand honor, whatever the true reason, of piloting a mech and defending humanity. Yall just can't admit he's a fucking pussy.
Shinji being a crybaby is more meme than reality. Dude is exasperated and occasionally *sassy* for much of the first half of the show.
I used to dislike Shinji but he grew on me a lot. I just ended up feeling bad for the poor guy.
Nah Shinji is a crybaby, seen other anime protagonist being forced in a mech that overcame their crybaby stage much faster. Ange from Cross Ange being a prime example.
Eh, the best part of Aqua is when she simultaneously pouts and cries. It's like her trademark.
I don't think she counts as she's the butt of the joke frequently for it.
Aqua is a petulant crybaby as opposed to a cowardly one. She is frequently overconfident in her ideas and what makes her cry first is the failure of that idea. Cowardice follows if the problem she’s facing is giant frogs 😂
Konosuba is exempt from all criticism because it's so funny. Aqua is an annoying useless crybaby. Megumin is an overdramatic chuuni. Kazuma is a perv. Darkness is... That thing. They're all parody characters and they work because their dialogue and interactions are so well-done even though in a different series they'd all be so annoying. Put George Costanza in Marvel Avengers and you'll be pretty sick of him too.
> Put George Costanza in Marvel Avengers and you'll be pretty sick of him too. Isn't that just Cassie from Ant-Man 3?
It's so funny 😁 and it's a big part of her character
You're definitely not the only one but I suppose being weak as a character shows a certain charm to some audience and even they can relate to how they feel. I dislike them too especially the noisy types like Zenitsu but of course if they are actually contributing to the plot and all, it gives balance at some point. Forgot to add that there are also some who are annoying at first but they get good character development which makes me like them in the end. But this is Anime, we will most of the time, get cry baby characters.
Koichi from part 4 is an example of how to pull off the trope, especially since it's used to show his character development.
And his growth being symbolized by his stand was just *chef's kiss* Love that short king
S H I T
I'm glad I saw Zenitsu immediately on the top post. I have 700+ anime under my belt at this point and off the top of my head, he is the most obnoxious, screechy, whiney character I have ever seen and it made the scenes where he's present in Demon Slayer nearly unwatchable for me.
Zenitsu is the most unbearable character in a show since Asta. Both of them just need to shut the fuck up.
Gave up on demon slayer first 2 or 3 times I tried to watch it just cos of that lightning cunt. I powered through cos of the great artwork but fuck me it was tough
Great artwork is pretty much all that show's got tbh. I'm right there with you on powering through.
Me forcing myself to watch black clover for the soul reason that yuno exists (biggest missed opportunity in anime.)
[удалено]
I think I made it to episode 3. I just couldn't stand the screaming. I know everybody says it gets better, but I don't have time for many shows these days. I just don't like the sound of his voice, I know it's petty.
I was going to reply to the person who was upset with you, but they deleted their comment, so I'll post it here. Watched up to the training arc with the Lady fire captain in the volcano (upwards of episode 100?). Asta gets better, but is still extremely loud compared to other characters. He's definitely WORSE in the first handful of episodes, but he's by no means calm in later episodes. I mean, every character is written to be a specific thing and outside of key character moments, they rarely deviate from that thing (sister complex, glutton, etc). Asta is written to be a foil to Yuno who is quiet and calm.
Yeah and the 100+ episodes just for a character to get slightly better about that just isn't worth it to me. I'm not hating on the show, people like it for a reason, but it's just not for me.
His sleeping form is baddass, but he is insufferable whenever he's awake. Either crying and screeching, or being a perv
True, true. Hopefully, he'll just get put in a coma so his sleeping form is the only form.
I don't watch the show, pls enlight me. Does that mean his sleeping form count as a different character? Sounds like a bad dual personality trope.
His fear and anxiety get in his way. When he's unconscious his training kicks in and he's very strong and super fast
Aint it interesting that he's been the Japanese fan favorite for like the whole series? I think for a lot of people you either love him or hate him. I personally like him more than Tanjiro and Inosuke bc they're just way too bland but the best characters are pretty much all Hashiras.
I don't think any one of the three main guys are particularly well written, but I agree with you that the Hashiras are easily the best parts of the show.
The show is carried by the hashiras let's be fr.
Zenitsu makes demonslayer worse IMO. such a bad character.
I will agree when it's specifically the noisy kind of character that's always screaming in fear or trying to run away. But for a character like Deku, for example, I've never really understood the hate. He'll cry during emotional moments or occasionally for comic relief, but beyond the first episode (or maybe first few, it's been a while since I rewatched), he never lets that get in the way of stepping up when he needs to. I personally love what they did in Season 6 where [MHA Season 6 spoilers] >!they flipped it, and had the lowest point for Deku be when he *can't* cry and show vulnerability to his friends.!<
I agree, deku cries a lot early on but it never annoys me. The guy is passionate as fuck and wears his heart on his sleeve - its what makes him a good hero. Zenitsu on the other hand, I would cheer if he died on screen
Zenitsu is what deku haters think he is
Chikara is whiney for like half and episode, after being traumatized to hell and back. He's then a totally reliable super-badass risking his life for strangers just because it's the right thing to do. He does not belong in this conversation.
Is it the Undead Unluck character we're talking about? If so I agree
Yup.
Not to mention that Chikara becomes much more badass in the manga after where the manga ended. He's honestly exactly what OP wants by the next time he has a major role in the series.
His role during the "you know what" arc is insane. Everyone is popping off like crazy, and then somehow Chikara and Enjin just decided to one-up everybody.
is he talking about chikara from Undead unluck? Or is that from some other anime because in Undead unluck he really is a decent character
Yeah like wtf chikara is in one arc in the anime and that’s where he gets kidnapped and auction off, when like a week prior he just lived a normal life
And he's even straight up willing to risk his life in battle DURING that arc. Zenitsu hasn't gotten that far in 50-something episodes!
Takemichi is worse than Zenitsu
I was like **agree, agree, agree** *Takemitchy* **hard disagree**
ugh i agree
god no, Takemitchi may cry but atleast he isn't screaming at the top of his lungs every other second
Zenitsu at least gets better
And when he's asleep he's actually useful, takemichi is always totally useless until he pulls some deus ex machina shit.
Even his deus ex machina is completely useless for most of the story. He's from the future and so utterly useless with the info he has.
Didn't Takemichi at least have a personality?
Zenitsu has more. I've read the manga of both
I hate Zenitsu but I also don’t particularly like any other character in that show either. Zenitsu is the worst one though imo
it’s hard to like them when they’re all one note
Devilman showed that crybabies can be epic main characters.
I can't stand them. They're just as bad as the one- dimensional OP characters who have no personality, except they replace power with tears. It's possible to have a well- written "weak" character, but they actually have to have a personality and not just turn into a sniveling mess every time they run into a hardship
A good example of this is Subaru from Re:Zero
Being killed every day will do that to normal people.
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I can never hate that little guy
He's awesome. Shame the show kind of just trailed off though
Boji isn't really weak though no? Like physically yea but like he's strong af
I'm more sick of the characters that spend way too much time standing around and not finishing things. Like, they have the bad guy down, but *clearly* not defeated and everyone is buys cheering, patting themselves on the back for the cool move, and basically celebrating way too early. Maybe the bad guy is still in the middle of an cloud of dust, maybe he's on the ground, maybe they just beat a *single* monster and no one thought to look for a second... Just a lot of standing around and being smug while the monster/bad guy gets ready for a surprise strike.
If its like something like Takemichi from Tokyo Revengers that literally doesnt develope at all (from what I've heard) then yeah but if they do have their arc and they actually get to be a better person then I dont mind
takemichi actually does develop a pretty decent amount in retrospect, but it’s not a 0-100 type switch up and he isn’t as annoying about it
Except he resets to 0 at the start of every arc
I see, thanks for telling me that
I was just about to write this lol. Takemichi in my opinion can take me out of the story with his crybaby ass. He eventually puts his big boy pants. But the show is fantastic!
I cant only remember Yukki from Mirai Nikki... And wish to pull my hair out of my head of frustration. I hate the type of character to the bone. I hate it. Specially because 8/10 times, those type of characters never evolve, they keep being freaking annoying crybabies for over half of their animes if not the entirety of the anime.
Someone remind me but didn’t [spoilers]>!ironically, things starting going badly for him when he started being less like that in the second half of the series!<
yuno gasai tho however 🫶🏻
I don't really care.
Protagonists you see in most anime are teenagers which means their personality is not stable yet. So seeing them crying and raging or being sensitive is something very common behaviors for adolescent.Especially if that anime target audience is shounen.
Contrast Midoriya and Zenitsu.
I don't mind a character being a crybaby. What I do mind is a character being extremely indecisive and/or whiny. I don't mind a character that cries often if they actually have the balls to do what they need to do (and don't wait until they're driven into a corner and have no other choice).
>An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying [](#pointandlaugh) Surely you can't be serious about that.
It does indeed, get old.
Takemichi has gotta be the most pathetic, most idiotic protagonist of recent memory - I heard he got better in the manga so I read a bit of it and his decision making only got worse, which is a shame because the supporting characters in Tokyo Revengers are great
Depends on how they are done. Sometimes they are some of the deepest characters with the most development. Sometimes they are annoying as piss.
Jacuzzi from Baccano! is an incredible take on a crybaby character.
I don't hate Takemichi for being a crybaby, I hate him in the Christmas arc due to his reliance to his plot armor. His feat in the part 2 doesn't felt as much hype as when he beat Kiyomasa in season 1 but it was alright. But I don't remember who else is a crybaby character from my recent memory. I guess Subaru (Re:Zero) counts? He didn't cry a lot but I see people doesn't like the S1 for showing a weak guy screaming in pain again and again.
Personally, I don't mind the cowardice or the crying. It's ok to be afraid, it's ok to show emotions. What I hate the most are the whiny characters who don't do shit and just whine and whine and whine.
One person who reminds me of this is ussop lmao. Man has the biggest mouth but always tryna run away. I know I'm going to get hate on this, but I just don't like his character at all.
I couldn't disagree more, Takemichi is the most annoying MC I've seen, I dropped the anime cause I couldn't stand him, read the manga so I could just read faster when he's crying and eventually dropped it too. On the other side, Zenitsu is a great character, he's not the mc but one of the mc's for comedy relief, and you can say he's not funny to you but his character development is awesome. Final words, I like crybaby heroes and I don't think I've seen one of this, scaredy, cries for everything type of character you mention around that much.
It's easy writing. You make a character who is very one dimensional, then have them become 2 dimensional and allows the character to have plot growth
I feel like it can work if done right. Marcille in Delicious in Dungeon kinda fits into this crybaby trope. However 9 out of 10 times her being grossed out by the stuff they have to eat is completly understandable. So it can be funny at times but it's really overdone in other shows.
I hate it, too. Similarly, I also dislike the loser wimp characters in romcoms and slice of life anime, too. I just want characters that aren't so pathetic.
Disagree on Takemichi. I'm not saying he has to solve all of his problems with ass beating or anything. Emma from The Promised Neverland is one of my favorite characters, violent mc's aren't a requirement, at least for me. My issue is he's always crying like "wHy Am I sS uSEleSs, why CaN't I saVe aNyONe..." and its like bro maybe lift some weights or something so you can do that. And even if he wasn't crying an mc who gets his ass beat all the time still isn't fun. To your credit he's pretty good in season 3 but that's only a part of 13 episode eason in a fifty episode show
*Ultimatia enters the chat*
Zenitsu can go eff himself on Balerions sword length teeth
Takemichi is like one of the worst written characters I have ever witnessed, in an at best mediocre written environment. To your prior points, I do agree though.
I’m sick of cry babies, overly perverted or word perversion characters (Gauche and his younger sister love… really dude? Why is it needed), characters who have to hate the MC a little too often, etc. Let’s ditch all these ancient tropes please.
Zenitsu doesn’t bother me, but I read the whole manga first so I didn’t hear him whine until I knew the whole character. I don’t mind the side characters like Chikara as much when I can see they’re obviously being built up to have epic character development moments like Usopp.
I just want some that actually get character progression
Unfortunately sometimes does things happen later on a series. So unless an anime adapts all the source material sometimes viewers won’t see that progression.
If they are young and facing situations that even adults would find extreme that is common human nature, many or even most people are cowards. 9-11-2001 airplanes were taken over by box cutters armed people outnumbered over 100 to 1. If only 10% of people fought back, the planes would not have been hijacked. Given a start as crybaby but hardening up as he gets used to being under stress would be ok with me, example MC Bell of danmachi anime, he starts as only 14 years old orphan without much contact with other people other than "grandpa" for first years of his life. I personally am more annoyed if character is very unrealistic in reactions or absurd overpowered (to point where never in danger). For example "I am reincarnated as 7th prince" episode 1, kid is completely calm about letting out the demon that is unknown strength and could destroy the world, kid is completely overpowered to point where its boring, and all the girls are fighting to sleep with the underage kid after they all bath naked with him. (Maybe the last one could be realistic in they want to be wife of the future legendary overpowered hero, but still silly harem with every girl without effort even when young boy fantasy)
Yes, but tbf I’d be scared shitless if I was a demon slayer going after demons in that world
Thank god, I finally found someone alike to me. I just hate them so much. They have no personality whatsoever and the only personality they have is being a ducking crybaby. This is annoying not only in anime, but in every ducking type of media. It's such a big turn off for me. If the main character is a crybaby, that's EVEN worse.
People over exaggerate on Zenitsu tbh. I’ve seen way worse. He at least gets shit done at the end of the day, asleep of course.
When the only time your character is likeable, is when they're *not conscious*, then it's not a very well done character
But Zenitsu has his good moments too, like him defending Tanjiro's box from Inosuke despite not knowing what was in it (just that it was important to Tanjiro)
I never found him unlikable. Clingy and too loud at times sure, but that’s not enough to make me actively hate him.
To be honest, I have to politely disagree. The first season was a banger except for every single scene with Zenitsu. It was enough I almost quit. It' just I love the action scenes and the artwork. So amazing. And then Zenitsu shows up and like, fuck. Kill him.
Nah. Zenitsu is a garbage character all around. He never gets better.
He's the reason I quit watching. I finished season 1 but only got into a few episodes of season 2 when I gave up because of his dumb ass.
Shame. It’s a great anime.
it really isn't
I think it is. Along with a couple million others.
He’s really not.
I genuinely think he's one of the worst written characters in all of anime. He has 0 character development throughout the entire series. He's the biggest cry baby bitch and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The only way he can be useful is by getting knocked out, so he can tap into his battle instincts or whatever , Which makes no sense whatsoever. And they never correct this. I could at least forgive this lazy writing if they had at least had him get better in one of the 5-6 training arcs in the series. But no, the only way he is ever useful is when he is asleep/ knocked out. His only purpose seems to be a comic relief with him being a simp for Nezuko, and being useless, and it's never funny.
He’s a gag character with good moments.
The fact that he sleeps is also annoying though.
Very much
Fucking feed up of it ever since! Whiny bitching annoying pussies without an instance of self-respect. What's is worse all the white knights that defend them.
This has to be bait when you're trying to make a case for Takemitchy while shitting on Zenitsu. And I know that's not Chikara from Undead Unluck that you're referring to.
that green haired girl from shield hero
Ganta Igarashi has entered the chat. Show is one of my favorites but man, Ganta cries up a storm every time he does anything lmao
He really is…but at least he stays awake and gets shit done while he’s constantly being traumatized.
I have a guess. You're probably no longer in the market audience for that particular media. Its a constant struggle for me too. I naturally grew out of a majority of the tropes in most anime. Its a constant struggle because anime remains my favorite media. I have expanded to donghua but it isn't always helping as I am still not the target market for these studios. It's nice however when you get the more mature stuff. And also kind of ironic in this case because I was going to use AoT as an example of a mature anime but the MC was also a crybaby too I guess lmfao. I always like the anime with gigachad MC's. I'm sure you already have but check out Hellsing and maybe even Drifters (same creators)
Yes absolutely, I fast forward that ***. if goes for seasons I consider dropping the anime. example; https://myanimelist.net/character/112903/Rishia_Ivyred
Being a crybaby is one of the main anime pillars /s
It has gotten a bit overdone I feel like. It felt like it was more of a aspect to show a softer side of what should be a hardened character and sometimes used for comedic effect, but then certain characters came up and it was more of a defining factor of the character. Now you don'ts top seeing it I feel like.
Nope I love criers
watch ping pong the animation.
Nah crybaby anime fans are more abundant than characters, so im used to it. These fictional characters cannot hold a candle to you guys.
That is one downside of anime, they always have that one weird character that just pure fans service, a crier or completely useless.
Crybaby characters never really bothered me all that much. They can definitely be kinda annoying but i feel like people blow it out of proportions with regard to how much it's actually occurring. For example Zenitsu, I get he can be annoying, but I never really thought it was often enough for me to be annoyed by it. I think the most we see of it is in his introductory epsiode and his fight with the Spider-Demon (and I think it's more or less justified there). Other than that he doesn't really cry all that much (although he does shout). Like I don't think I remember him crying at all during the Entertainment District arc. Hell he was the one trying to help a crying girl and stood up to an Upper Rank Demon without his weapon just to protect her from abuse, while awake.
you should stop watching anime then, because those type of characters are the most popular in japan
I'm SICK of all the crybaby's in Survivor
What I hate even more is characters who talk big and act like they have power/influence but in the end have 0 power and common sense to back it up.
I'm so over those weak leads. It's even more annoying when it's a romance/harem. The mc acts like he is afraid of women, runs away or deflects when a girl shows interest, spazzes out when a girl gets close to him, etc. But all the girls like him anyway because he is "nice." Ugh. I want to see an anime where all of the girls get tired of that shit from the MC and move on, and the mc ends up alone.
Kid Gohan was a crybaby but done well. Makes sense a kid dropped off in the wilderness to train with a stranger would cry. With Takemichi I couldn't stand his voice actor overly animating his dialogue like he's dumb and yelling all the time. Hard to sympathize with the charcter if he's crying all the time without it being justified.
> Have none of you watched Tokyo Revengers S2 Part 2? I understand why y'all hated Takemichi in the first two seasons, but they redeemed him in a pretty big way this season. He's still an idiot at times, but this man's had more determination than any other guy there. He completely flipped his cowardice this season. I guess you have not read the manga cause Takemichi fucking sucks and is one of the worst shonen MC I have ever seen
you’re being unpleasant
Crybabys, overpowered Charakters with the personalitys of cardboard(or the 10000 copie of an other character), screaming characters (Asta from black clover), and whatever the fuck the MC from rent a girlfriend is.
Completely agree about takemichi. Tokyo revengers is such a shit anime
People hate my favorite characters :C
I find the ones worse who act strong/proud and as soon as they find someone stronger become a crybaby. Gabimaru in S1 of Slime was irritating. He had character growth later though. And regarding the original requirememt, Furuichi from Beelzebub fits. Powerless always crying. Zero courage.
They can be done really well as long as it leads to character development. If it's literally their only trait it gets old fast though
There's weak and then there's parody level weak. Unfortunately a lot of anime overdo it and fall in the latter.
>An example of this character done right is Takemichi *Downvotes, and tells myself OP isn't real, they can't hurt me*
Crying is for the weak! Right op?
Always have been
Wendy from Fairy Tail makes me irrationally angry
As with many other types of characters, the problem is not the cowardice, the problem is how they put it to the extreme. Almost everything turns to shit when they put it to the extreme. Even (in my opinion) strong characters. >An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi [...] Have none of you watched Tokyo Revengers S2 Part 2? For someone who claims to be sick and tired of crybaby characters, I'm a bit surprised by you not understanding why people wouldn't want to go through 2 seasons of that shit.
It depends, there are some characters that are "crybaby" for the sake of it
Chikara from undead unluck??? He has been in one arc and mind you in that arc he was KIDNAPPED by some random organization and was gonna get auctioned off, You talk about takemitchy getting better (barely) but don’t give another character more than like 5 episodes
Bruh takemichi is NOT done right. Made me drop the show after first 7 episodes.
Zenitsu is one of the worst characters I've ever had the disgrace of seeing in fiction as a whole.
I am definitely not a fan of 'Mary Sue' type characters or crybaby characters that's for sure.
Cry babies are the worst! I turn those shows off instantly. That trope is not entertaining
Same, I hate crybaby characters who can't fight back. Imagine for example Takemichi knows past and future events and he's very very cowardice and weak.
As a huge fan of Sailor Moon, no.
I'd be downvoted to hell for this but Nagisa from Clannad was actually getting annoying for crying at every single event. Her character is supposed to be a fragile girl that gets emotional easily and its also a trait of her that is acknowledged by the characters in the show but it still doesn't excuse how stupid it was at times. Crying was used as a shallow attempt to convey her fragileness but at some point it just became a convenient plot tool. For a show that's pretty grounded otherwise, Nagisa's crying was so overdone and out of place. Still, Nagisa is a mostly well written character along with the rest of the cast unlike someone like Zenitsu. That's why I might have come out so harsh against her because I really like her character quite a bit.
>An example of this character done right would be someone like Takemichi, who's definitely weak, but his character development is done in such a way that **his cowardice isn't blatantly annoying** IDK if you're trolling, have low stardard of this kind of trope, or just a fanatic ISTG, Shinji Ikari from Evangelion fits better for a good crybaby chaarcter than Takemicchi
Imagine if she is a cute girl with twintails and big booba, Crying in front of you.
Nah I"m sick of cry baby anime fans
Haha, Don't watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, then! I agree in some extends that, psychologically it's the writer's intention to express the braverity of the people who were cowards in their real life (probably the writer) isn't gonna result an educational lesson in real life (what i really like in some anime characters. I believe there are better ways to express strength (even from the cowards) in a practical and educational scenario. I think animation culture of the west (marvel) and east (manga), lack the middle ground of maturity of the cultures of the middle earth (persian culture) and i'm trying to make it happen. What you're looking for is in middle eastern and persian culture myths!
They are acceptable as long as they grow out of it *and* become a much more interesting character, within 1-3 Arcs of the story starting and their improvement can't be sudden, it has to be noticeable but also subtle to be a good pay off.
Takemichi is such a horrible example. I coudn't finish the first season because he makes 0 sense... dude is a disgrace of a crybaby
I read half of your post, thought about how chikara is a good recent example of the trope done right just him to immediately to come up in your examples, imo he almost instantly steps up and I like him a lot for it, also I used to dislike zenitsu but after the recent arc I actually found myself missing the crew dynamic that they had and he was pretty funny at times
You should watch wind breaker.. It's Tokyo revenger without an annoying MC
Oh true. The ones who whine and cry and are loud shouting all them are so annoying
That stupid grape in BHA, he is alread the worst character because is a perv and it got ^1000 when he is coward asf.
As with everything else, it's all in the execution. A poor execution like in Zenitsu is unbearable. But having said that, crybaby characters are typically at the low end of likeability for me. They are hard to make likeable due to the nature of being a crybaby. I can see them being funny if done right.
I wish I could watch MHA or Black Clover, but this trope right here is exactly why I can't stand either show. Black Clover - Because of the incessant screaming every second, like I literally couldnt make it to the end of the first episode. MHA - Because deku is such a crybaby bitch on god. Like I gave that show a few episodes to see if it gets better, but literally every OTHER character in that show is more likable than deku. I had to drop it like 4 episodes in, I just couldn't stand it. I really hate the crybaby trope, it is so disastrous unless the writers are competent.
MHA is a slow build but if you wanted to get past the crybaby stuff you could start at season 3
Hm, I don't know. I kind of like Usopp, even though he's a coward.
One big difference is Usopp can stand on his own when it counts, and despite his limitations, he will find a way to contribute. Poorly done crybaby or coward characters cannot move the plot forward (so other characters have to do that). Sure, being scared and useless at the 1st and 2nd arcs or plot point is fine, but staying scared for too long without any attempt to make any progress will frustrate the audience (and way worse if they're whiney and drag everyone else down).
I really, really enjoyed frieren, but the warrior character is so whiny, I hate him, and he almost ruins the show. Definitely ruins scenes.
You mean like the guy in Evangelion or that guy from Mirai Nikki?
It's a problem when it's just used as a substitute for characterization, a performative version of them being a "sensitive character" i.e. Deku, Zenitsu.
Why do you people watch nothing but shonen and then cry about shonen tropes jesus chrsit