Jerkass Woobie/Playing With

Basic Trope: A sympathetic character who happens to be a Jerkass.
 * Straight: Bob the Jerk is sexist and temperamental, but that's because he was sexually abused by his older brother and sister.
 * Exaggerated: Bob the Ax Crazy Terrorist is a Complete Monster, but that's because of his incredibly sympathetic backstory.
 * Downplayed: Bob is only a little rude due to being a victim of some minor bullying as a child.
 * Justified: His Jerkassness is because the hardships he endured traumatized him.
 * Inverted: Bob is The Messiah but his backstory is incredibly unsympathetic.
 * Subverted: It's really a lie that Bob used to gain sympathy.
 * Double Subverted: It's really a lie that Bob used to cover up his real Freudian Excuse.
 * Parodied: Bob is regularly killed over and over again and is a huge Jerkass.
 * Deconstructed: Bob's temperamental tendencies and sexism make him lose sympathy points, which only serves to further his mental problems.
 * Reconstructed: Bob decides to be less of a Jerkass and goes to a therapist to help him with his problem.
 * Zig Zagged: Bob's temperamental one minute, but kind the next, but moody the next minute, but sympathetic the next, until we think he's bipolar whose mood turns more than ten people running around in a revolving door.
 * Averted: Bob has nothing to justify his actions.
 * Or Bob, despite his backstory, doesn't feel the need to act like a jerk.
 * Enforced: "Bob is such a jerk, so let's give him a sympathetic backstory and people will feel sorry for him."
 * Lampshaded: "He's such an asshole, why do I feel sorry for him?"
 * Invoked: Everyone thinks Bob is a jerk, so he tries to win people back over by rationalizing his actions and presenting a made-up justification.
 * Defied: Bob laughs in their faces and says he has no justification whatsoever.
 * Bob rationalizes his behavior, but no one buys it.
 * Discussed: "What would you do, if I told you I was sexually abused? Would you still hate me?"
 * Conversed: "You know, sometimes people act like jerks when they're really hurting inside."

Back to Jerkass Woobie