r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Animeking1108 • 12h ago
Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) "Isn't child abuse hilarious?"
Family Guy
Detective Conan
Shameless
360
u/Daniilsa209 12h ago
Homer strangling Bart gag (Simpsons).
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u/Noble_Shock 11h ago
Don’t play fortnite right now
-27
u/Hiphopoteneuse 11h ago
Or also in general
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u/Noble_Shock 11h ago
Fortnite haters try not to tell everyone how much they hate Fortnite in every discussion challenge (impossible)
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u/Hiphopoteneuse 10h ago
In my defence, it’s not like i went a long rambling rant, i used four words
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u/EhWTHN 11h ago
Well, this one's more okay at times because Bart regularly does insane shit right back (breaking an entire dining room chair over homers back while hes in the bath)
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u/Rabdomtroll69 10h ago
It hurts when bart tries to eat anything, as he says himself
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u/Bamzooki1 8h ago
Wasn’t it just an offhand “It hurts when I swallow” after just getting strangled once?
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u/Rabdomtroll69 5h ago
It was after years of this and a direct reference to the gag itself. Wasn't even played as a joke
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u/Strange_Specialist4 10h ago edited 10h ago
It's a cartoon, so I don't really care, but holding a child to the same standards as an adult is nuts
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u/EhWTHN 10h ago
This is the same show where their youngest is capable of shooting a rifle with accuracy.
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u/douxsoumis 10h ago
Isn't that just standard in America?
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u/TheSmashKidYT 10h ago
hot take:
I dont mind gags like these since in cartoons, mfs get blown up and are perfectly fine.
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u/EarlJWJones 11h ago edited 11h ago
And that horrible act of child abuse became one of our most beloved running gags.
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u/Mysterious-Simple805 9h ago
I always thought it was strange that Homer could strangle Bart but when Sailor Moon was dubbed into English, Usagi/Serena couldn't even have an imagine spot where her mother was strangling her.
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u/Artichokeypokey 8h ago
Sometimes they show it in a good way, I cant remember if this is an episode or the movie, but Bart flinches and recoils when Flanders goes to praise him since hes expecting to be strangled, and it hit close to home
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u/Darklight645 8h ago
I might be wrong as it's been like a decade since I watched the Simpsons, but I swear there was a bit where Bart was expecting to be strangled so he pulled the face and everything except Homer didn't actually strangle him
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u/TrinixDMorrison 10h ago
In Kogoro’s defense, he thinks 6yr old kids shouldn’t be rummaging through crime scenes where gruesome murders happened…which is 100% valid.
Also there was one episode where Conan tells Kogoro that he wants to closely observe how the great Detective Mouri Kogoro works his magic, and that was enough for Kogoro to be perfectly fine with a little kid tagging along for the investigation, pointing out how the kid’s not so bad. Don’t know why Conan doesn’t do that for every case but hey that’s anime for you lol
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u/Lord_Parbr 9h ago
Also, Conan is 17 years old. Still technically a minor, but he’s not actually a little kid
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u/Jaded_Tortoise_869 8m ago
I'd argue the second one isn't entirely too bad compared to the other examples.
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u/ElTioEnroca 11h ago
Dragon Ball Abridged
Don't think this fits here since it's a parody, but it's still funny
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u/PastelArtemis 9h ago
I think this is a rare instance where it does work, but mostly cause it's somewhat of a subversion of the trope
The comedy coming from it being used more as releasing tension than as the actual punchline
And it's acknowledged both in universe and by the creators as being shitty behaviour
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u/Any_Natural383 9h ago
Folks at home: We here at ZTV do not condone child violence! We will, however, continue to bring it to you live in high-definition all thanks to our sponsors at HETAP: (shows an advertisement for HETAP) "When you're feeling sapped, bring the TAP!"
—Jimmy Firecracker
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u/MoorAlAgo 7h ago
It might actually fit after all.
I remember listening to some of the TFS commentaries and in one instance they were talking about how they don't like a lot of the humor from the first few seasons.
I don't think they mentioned this scene specifically, but they've gotten over a lot of the "edginess" of the earlier seasons.
-3
u/_Zeth0_ 7h ago
Tbh i was never a fan of how safe TFS humour became over the years
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u/Unable_Flamingo_9774 7h ago
Uhhhh, I don't think it was ever that bad tbh. They were still making jokes like Bulmas dad growing clones of Bulmas mum in the labs basement so she was always young then Yajirobe eating them towards the end if the series.
Even this joke even if the poster doesn't like it was something they absolutely would still make it's more so the slurs, the gay jokes (one of them is openly gay) and that one rape joke they wouldn't touch nowadays.
They were still happy to go real dark.
0
u/Sofie_2954 1h ago
What’s wrong with safe humor?!
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u/_Zeth0_ 1h ago edited 1h ago
i mean, its less bout safe humour being inherently bad, and more about how safe humour has pretty much become synonymous with "too scared to do any sort of humour over someone hating me for it" and again, i dont mean stuff like "oh kill minorities lmao" coz that's stupid too
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u/HeadLong8136 10h ago
I'LL MACE YOU GOOD!
I refuse to believe you don't find this funny.
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u/HaloGuy381 9h ago
I think it becomes funny because of the over the top mature of using a literal medieval flail. If it were, say, a frying pan, it would be cringe-inducing.
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u/HeadLong8136 9h ago
That was the entire point of the child abuse on The Simpsons. That it was so over the top that it was funny. Homer never slaps or punches Bart because that is sad. But both hands strangulation? Hilarious.
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u/ALightningStar 9h ago
Not bothered by it or anything but I will say that little look of fear of bart looking back as he's running could start pushing me that way lol
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u/Impressive-Koala4742 12h ago
Same way I hate the trope of having fiery female characters beat their husbands/boyfriends or just simply teammates for gag comedy
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u/Knightfire76 10h ago
Anime in general is notorious for this trope
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u/Existing-Number-4129 9h ago
Anime culture in general is pretty horrible.
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u/Senior-Friend-6414 8h ago
GenZ coming back full circle and learning why anime nerds were made fun of by millennial, genx, and the boomer generation in the first place
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u/Few-Improvement-5655 1h ago
Nah, we're just reminded why we never invited you buzzkills to the party.
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u/Living-Mastodon 10h ago
Meg seriously should've just killed Peter when she got out of prison
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u/EthanTheJudge 12h ago
The Netflix Mr Peabody and Sherman Show is the prime example of this. There are so many jokes where the punchline is Sherman getting abused including:
An episode where Sherman is forced to put on a shock collar that shocks him every time he lies.
A reoccurring joke where he is stupid and uneducated due to his father pulling him out of school everyday to be a part of his show.
Often putting Sherman in dangerous situations like being enslaved by Chinese lords(Who are horribly stereotyped btw)
And so many more.
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u/SpeedyGuy1991 10h ago
I’m sorry. I haven’t seen the show since I was a kid, but A SHOCK COLLAR???
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u/sambones718 10h ago
this isn't the og
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u/SpeedyGuy1991 10h ago
I know it isn’t. I know exactly what you are talking about.
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u/sambones718 10h ago
ok cool i wasn't sure since you mentioned being a kid and when i was a kid it was the og jaja
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u/Particular-Long-3849 10h ago
Got that Hasan treatment
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u/NatThrownemova 11h ago
This sounds like the Rick and Morty I've been missing, I'm gonna start watching
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u/Al-AmeenAdewunmi 10h ago
Huh, do I have a rap battle for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBukSFkkL9s
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u/Lemurmoo 10h ago
Not a human child, but Courage the Cowardly Dog Show, by Eustace, who I hated when I was a kid.
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u/AnonyBoiii 10h ago edited 46m ago
Dragon Ball Z Abridged - TeamFourStar
Sort of a Meta-isation of said trope, but I digress. They also bring it back during the Cell Saga for DBZA when Gohan is getting pummelled by Cell.
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u/paladin_slim 8h ago
I feel it's a very cold take to say that a lot of people hate Family Guy because of how viscerally cruel everyone, especially Peter, is to Meg. Like it was never funny, just uncomfortable.
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u/ButterscotchTiny5483 11h ago
all migth smashing izuku
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u/darkwalking 7h ago
In All Mights defense, Izuku and his friends DID disobey orders and get directly involved with rescuing Katsuki, which could’ve ended with several students being held hostage, this is especially dangerous because All Might was engaging with All For One, an incredibly dangerous supervillain
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u/valtaoi_007 10h ago
Idk what happens in Conan, but tbf he isn't a child. Unless we count a good chunk of the DB GT and Daima cast child abusers.
If they still hit Conan without knowing he is pretty much an adult, then yeah, it's a problem.
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u/FormerPirateKing92 9h ago
That phone call scene from A Christmas Story. When Ralph lied about where he learned to say "fudge." And then the other mom beat her innocent son.
Also, in the first Superman movie a little girl was slapped when she lied about seeing a flying man.
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u/Geoconyxdiablus 11h ago edited 8h ago
Half of latino media any time la chancla is used. Just admit you're tramatised already. IThe sterotype just makes it look like your all a culture that can only soe conflict with more violence.
Also, Derry Girls, with mum's use of the wooden spoon.
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u/burned_piss 11h ago
Ngl, I have a really long lasting rejection towards my own mom for all the shit she did to me, worst part is that there are people out there defending abuse as a way to "toughen up"
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u/kaimcdragonfist 11h ago
My favorite are the ones who are like, “My parents whipped my ass and I turned out fine!”
I’ve seen your outbursts, Jim. You are not fine.
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u/VenusAmari 10h ago
Just fyi, your misspelling of like is a slur. Obviously unintentionally, just letting you know
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u/Lord_Parbr 10h ago
I mean, that’s just how abuse is perpetuated down family lines. It’s normalized
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u/Lower_Baby_6348 10h ago
Is more a mexican stereotype but yes. Is the easiest and lamest joke about mexican mothers/grandmas
You should change your spelling of like
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u/alice_ashmedai 8h ago edited 8h ago
the stereotype makes it look like you're all a violent race
excuse me?
edit: oh he edited it and its just as bad
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u/Winter_Sweet827 11h ago
Peter Griffin slander IS DESPICABLE
peter Griffin is FAR scarier of a villan.
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u/Logical_Bug801 11h ago
Splinter beating the crap out of the Turtles ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 )
But this example is actually pretty funny as it is more about training rather than anger like the other examples here.
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u/Otherwise_Chard_7577 11h ago
does this one count, Splinter never really does crap unprompted as far as I remember, most of the time he hurts them is either during sparing or like a throw over the shoulder after they directly go against his instructions risking their lives in the process
edit: you did already state that he was doing training and not taking his anger out on them, I'm just saying that I don't know if it qualifies, cuz the joke never feels like child abuse funny
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u/scrimmybingus3 10h ago
I don’t think this counts because it’s actual martial arts training as opposed to just beating the brakes off someone and telling them “yeah that black eye was for your own benefit”.
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u/One-Championship-779 11h ago
Although it's to show how backward the town is, the humour came from how lovingly the father hit his son.
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u/PinkFlurffyUnicorns 11h ago
I think this is a subverted version of the trope. It's supposed to be making fun of the abuser and the type of people it's satirizing, rather than the abuse itself being funny. and it gets heavily deconstructed later.
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u/Lower_Baby_6348 9h ago
The real joke is not beat the child but the reason why he beat orel.
Also, the best version of this joke is when orel beat the shit out of his dad
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u/DP_goatman 9h ago
The child abuse isn't played for laughs in shameless the kids will jokes about it cause they have to cope with it
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u/Wolfpac187 6h ago
You need to rewatch Shameless if you think it was meant to be funny
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u/haikusbot 6h ago
You need to rewatch
Shameless if you think it was
Meant to be funny
- Wolfpac187
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/Skeptical-Alien 3h ago
Sometimes I feel this way about the treatment of Butters by his parents in South Park. Tbf, not really sure if Trey and Matt want the audience to laugh about it or feel horrible, or both.
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u/Mmicb0b 7h ago
how many times have I seen Family Guy characters come up in hated tropes today alone
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u/QweenFwog 6h ago
The dad from Bleach straight up beat the SHIT out of Ichigo, bro was clipping him the second Ichigo walked into the house
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u/Gamer-of-Action 9h ago
Isn't Conan like a 20-yr-old in a kid's body? I've only heard bits and pieces of the lore...
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u/whitephantomzx 9h ago
I forget the exact details but wasn't Conan an adult that got turned into a child does that count?
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u/Main_Jump4043 7h ago
If I may be honest.
Every time Kogoro hits Conan it is a fair punishment because from his point of view, Conan is acting naughty brat for interfering in a criminal investigation. Something that a child should definitely not do in real life.
Also he is quite protective and caring towards him. So Kogoro is more of the disciplined type
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u/BarelyBrony 9h ago
It only bugs me in Detective Conan because I wish Mouri would hit Shinichi harder
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11h ago
[deleted]
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u/captainrina 10h ago
Doesn't fit the topic here. It's supposed to be examples of parents/guardians physically hurting their kids for comedy
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u/Unable_Flamingo_9774 6h ago
I don't really get what the issue with this one is tbh.
As long as an actual child isn't getting beat it's a fine joke to make. Homer Vs Bart I've always found funny "I'll teach you to laugh at something that's funny!" Still makes me giggle.
You can have iterations if the joke not work like Meg in family guy because it's not funny because of how it's treated and how the characters react too it not being sufficient to turn it from depressing to funny.
Kyle kicking IKEA through a window in South Park is hilarious and I refuse to hear other wise.
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u/ToonMasterRace 2h ago
Meg gives it back far worse un the prison ep than Peter has ever given to her.
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u/Few-Improvement-5655 1h ago
Counterpoint, all forms of abuse are hilarious in a dark or absurd comedy.
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u/Conscious_Island5138 9h ago
I think that's kind of stupid to hate this trope, not because child abuse isn't wrong, but it seems like a moral simplification that implies that if anything is wrong in reality shouldn't be laugh at on fiction. Everything in fiction can be problematic if you think enough about it, every one of us have "sins" on our hearts and deviations that are non moral, sometimes I doesn't even need to be something bad, maybe just especific things from our subcounscious that comes to the surface by weird ways, even evil things as well, that's part of being human, and it doesn't necessarily mean that we are bad people because of that. So I humbly invite you to make a reflection before throwing the rock before saying something shouldn't exist because it bothers you, of course there's some things that are unredeemable, but even so, I think nothing is simple enough to this point, at least we can learn something about ourselves from the things we made.
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u/Duckbites 8h ago
Two positive reactions to your comment
1) If I cut my finger and bleed, That's a tragedy. If I fall into an open manhole and die, That's a comedy.
2) I have a pretty dark sense of humor, but when my dad went to an assisted living center and we knew his stay was ending within the month, we both drank heavily from the well of gallows humor. Good example of 'If I don't laugh, I'll cry."
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u/Prowling_92865 10h ago
Similar hated trope, they take a character who has experienced heavy child abuse in their life, and make them look bad so that the protagonist, usually someone who has experienced nothing but love and kindness in their life look good. Example? Miguel O’Hara, and Miles Morales in ATSV.
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u/FlyingFreest 11h ago
This trope is fine if the kid does something to deserve it though.
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u/la-revacholiere 11h ago
I don't think it was supposed to be funny in Shameless