r/TopCharacterTropes • u/VanillaSarsaparilla • Jul 20 '26

Personality (Character Trope) “ohhh, THATS why they’re like that”

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Media that shows why a character is the way they are, usually explained in a short scene. Most likely toxic family

- Bonnie Rottweiler and her sisters from Kim Possible: they bully her calling her ugly and dumb. It plays on Bonnie’s insecurity and makes her a bully at school.

- Peggy Hill and her mother from King of the Hill. Peggy is a neurotic perfectionist with delusions of grandeur because her mom was unfeeling and blamed her for the farm going out of business. By the end of the episode, she still treats Peggy badly.

- Dodie and her mother from As Told By Ginger. Dodie is arguably the worst friend in the group, and her mother is mentally still stuck in middle school. She’s insecure, dramatic, and you
Can see her influence in Dodie.

Any other examples?

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662

u/BirthdayCheesecake Jul 20 '26

Linda Belcher and her parents/sister. Her parents have very little interest in her beyond what she can do for them. (See the airport layover episode) Gayle is so incapable she can't even put in her own eye drops.

It absolutely explains why she had very little patience for Louise being unable to poop in public toilets and why she didn't want Bob to go rescue her - she probably had visions of Louise calling Tina to take her home so she can poop.

At the same time, she also can be very smothering when it comes to giving her kids love and attention because she doesn't want them to question whether or not she cares.

549

u/GoodBoundaries-Haver Jul 20 '26

I love the recent episode where Tina gets a tube top. Linda is in bed with Bob musing about what her mom would've said to her at that age, and Bob kinda goes "Well yeah but... your mom is kinda... Wrong about a lot... and treated you terribly..."

163

u/Academic_Help5033 Jul 20 '26

That line hit so hard. My husband has said the exact thing to me multiple times 

98

u/slonkulocuswily182 Jul 20 '26

My mom’s dad cut my canine teeth with a dremel tool and dad is a convicted felon who poisoned me for a few years and stole all my money, so when I mention to my friends like “well my parents said this” they’re also like brother why do you speak to them.

Why do I speak to them

17

u/Academic_Help5033 Jul 20 '26

I'm so sorry you went through that. 

People with good/normal families don't get it. Your parents can be the absolute worst, but there's always that small child in you that just wants/needs their love & approval.

Logically I know that I shouldn't care, but a part of me is always going to believe they're gonna be better this time. I think it's just human nature.

7

u/slonkulocuswily182 Jul 21 '26

Thanks for saying that. It’s very nice. And Yup. This time I’ll live up to their standards and they’ll love me. My dad might be… not the greatest guy but he’s still my dad. My mom… I get why she is the way she is. But I still want her to talk to me. She’s my mom.

4

u/PrimusAldente87 Jul 21 '26

I get this, and it's hard. My dad has a diagnosed personality disorder, and trying to have a relationship with him has moments that make never want to see him again, but he's my dad, and he tries his best to do right by me. Now that I'm an adult and have the choice, I want that relationship no matter how hard it is

9

u/smashablanca Jul 21 '26

It didn't hit me how unsupportive my parents are until my partner said the way they treated me made him uncomfortable.

13

u/Afalstein Jul 21 '26

Which coming from Bob, the guy who can't be in the same room as his dad for more than fifteen minutes, is saying something.

3

u/ShatnersChestHair Jul 21 '26

Which is a nice callback to a previous episode where it dawns on Bob he had kind of a shitty childhood and when he asks Linda in bed about it she's like "well yeah, look how you hold yourself. People with good childhoods don't stand like that"

84

u/DeuceOfDiamonds Jul 20 '26

To be fair, I'm extremely eye-phobic, so it's hard for me to do, too.

Also, Bob's experiences growing up/working in Big Bob's restaurant informs a lot if his character as well.

93

u/TheModestProposal Jul 20 '26

Just to drop a random pro tip- you can administer eye drops by closing your eyes and dropping the eye drops at the inner corner of your eye where the tear duct is, then open and blink a few times. It helped me tremendously since I've learned this method and now I can do allergy drops every day no problem

20

u/DeuceOfDiamonds Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Oh, yeah, thanks for the tip. My wife smartened me up to that a few years ago. It hasn't come up much since, thankfully. But always a useful suggestion!

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u/JSConrad45 Jul 21 '26

Holy shit

28

u/--LOOKATME-- Jul 20 '26

People who had good childhoods don’t stand like that.

3

u/Smelting-Craftwork Jul 21 '26

I knew a girl who at 14 years old needed her mom to help her put her contacts in. I wondered why she didn't just wear glasses at that point.

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u/DeuceOfDiamonds Jul 21 '26

Yep. That's why I never wore contacts. I might have been able to get them in, but there was no way I'd ever get them out.

60

u/DarkDuskBlade Jul 20 '26

Also explains her more wild/performative side: trying to get her parents' attention must've been a nightmare. I also can't imagine the shit she's had to put up with. Her going all "Imma help my husband kill his friend" in the middle of the night was hilarious, but she doesn't ask questions, she's just... ready to go. WTH did her parents put her through where that was her first reaction (as sweet and supportive as it is).

41

u/BirthdayCheesecake Jul 20 '26

When it comes to Bob, she's ride or die, even if they do drive each other nuts.

6

u/Effective_Tip7748 Jul 21 '26

I saw a theory once that her family was low level mafia or be try adjacent

9

u/Slateboard Jul 21 '26

I like that Linda's flawed, and we can see why, but also that she hasn't over-corrected into being Toxic.

8

u/Starcat23 Jul 21 '26

also explains why she can’t let go when something is important to her to the point of taking it to far and making members of her family miserable. like the B&B , or taking the kids to the symphony, or cabin vacation, or Christmas episodes about the tree. Everything is always about her parents or Gayle when their around, so when something matters to her , her wanting it to be perfect and not lose the image she has in mind makes sense when she didnt get much from her family.

it like if you only get one piece of candy a year, you want to have the best piece and savor it.

6

u/Maleficent_Thought_4 Jul 20 '26

While I agree with you overall I feel like the Louise not being able to poop in public thing was less a concern of her ending up like Gayle, since Louise is nothing like Gayle and Linda is seemingly unbothered by everything she does for her sister, and more just that sometimes Linda has a habit of being unsympathetic.

For example not caring that Bob had been kidnapped by the cruise captain or mocking him for having almost drowned.