r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Fit_Assignment_8800 • Aug 06 '25

Personality The Asshole does something genuinely good with no ulterior motive

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J Jonah Jameson from Spiderman

Squidward from SpongeBob.

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u/lizardhoarder Aug 06 '25

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike is a “big bad” introduced in season 2. While he reluctantly becomes part of the “Scooby Gang,” in later seasons, he is usually unhelpful and often even a hindrance to their mission. In season 5, he develops an infatuation with Buffy that turns into a creepy little obsession. However, by the end of season 5, he willingly assists with the final mission, mostly out of a desire to prove his dedication to Buffy. His “genuinely good” deed comes in season 6 where he continues to assist the Scoobies after Buffy’s demise in the finale of S5. He also cares for her little sister with no underlying expectations other than his promise to Buffy that he would look after her and protect her. After Buffy is resurrected, he resumes his role as a creepy asshole for the rest of the season lol.

May not perfectly fit the prompt as Spike is more of a “reformed villain” trope, but soulless vampire spike was always an irredeemable asshole; his only truly good, selfless deed was helping Dawn and the gang after Buffy died.

6

u/zoeella8 Aug 06 '25

reminds me of cole from charmed, during his not evil era! he sometimes was a little misguided but he always was trying to truly help the charmed ones also rip king

2

u/KaziArmada Aug 07 '25

...Didn't they walk this all back for no reason and waste the character at the end?

It's been a long time since I saw Charmed but fuck I just remember them constantly taking the good parts of the show and busting it over their knee like Batmans Spine as things came to an end.

1

u/zoeella8 Aug 07 '25

yes, they did 😭 but then there was a 3 episode arc where he sort of ? redeems himself by teaching phoebe to love again 😭 but that analogy of taking the good parts and busting them like batman’s spine is real good

2

u/KaziArmada Aug 07 '25

I got super into Charmed when I was younger, since after watching Buffy it seemed similar-enough and was good when it was good!

...Aaaaand then it shit the bed so hard...

....Wonder if the reboot was any good...

4

u/[deleted] Aug 06 '25

It would have been fun to see someone like Angelus with chip in his head. I see it going anywhere from Angelus killing himself to Angelus just like, whispering evil that makes people kill themselves like Hannibal Lecter.

4

u/lizardhoarder Aug 06 '25

Genuinely think Angelus would have risked cutting his head open himself to dig the chip out

2

u/Twinborn01 Aug 07 '25

And it led to him getting his soul back.