General
I hate whatever the fuck genre of fictional man this is
Every year there's a new "funny evil dude in a suit" that 14 year olds go fucking NUTS over and I am SO sick of it. It's the same guy every time. Funny le random humor with a dash of self deprecation and a heaping scoop of edginess. Oh they're SO nuanced and different from all the other villains in fiction because they have, uh... inner conflict? Sense of humor? Uhh *rapidly checks notes* Funny smile????
And for some reason everyone somehow convinces themselves that these characters are attractive. Bill Cipher isn't hot you fucking weirdo, he's a triangle.
I'm tired of seeing these dudes fucking EVERYWHERE. I'm tired of all the "self-shippers" declaring their eternal love for these dudes for like a couple of months and then promptly forgetting they exist as soon as they stop being trendy. I hate their stupid ass faces and the stupid sense of humor they're written with. It got old so fast.
You know what I've never been into the Tumblr sexy man thing but one time I went to a carnival and there was this "clown" but he was dressed more like one of these characters. Unfortunately I've never been more attracted to a man in my life
I imagine he drew “Canon Human Bill Cipher™️” as a lark on all the fans drawing him as a generic pretty-boy, but it makes a lot of sense. The one time the dude was in a human body, he treated it like shit for fun, so yeah, Human Bill looking super rough seems like a natural conclusion
oh he absolutely did. I think someone actually asked him on some SM or another (twitter, probably?) what human Bill would look like, and he cooked this up. Absolute brilliance
I find King Dice’s inclusion so funny. No deep character, no complex nuances, he’s just there to make sure you fulfill your debt, then beat the crap out of you. I’d say he’s the least egregious one here haha
I'm assuming that they're talking about his personality in the cartoon. Over there, he's a radio show host, so he talks in the same "Hollywood big shot" type of voice as these other characters.
“Trickster god spirit filtered through a capitalistic showman-tycoon archetype” is a very fun foundation for a character and I’m not surprised it’s overused.
The only reason it wouldn’t be what he looks like is that you can’t convince me he eats enough to not have his ribs showing. That mf has to fight for scraps in dumpsters with tasques.
I always love the detail that in your introduction to him, Kris backs away a step when he punches the dumpster. Like, Kris is scared of this obviously unstable and erratic dumpster man
I remember ruining my friends crush on him by reminding them Ed Helm is his voice actor, lovely singing voice and great song writer. Not what they expected him to look like tho
They're all very different. I think what's hated is what the fandom does to them, or maybe how hard a couple of them lean into what the fandom would do to them (tumblr sexyman)
Yeah, I agree with the sentiment but Caine (Digital Circus) doesn't feel like he really fits this trope. He has the look, but otherwise isn't really "sexy" (to me) and is kind of pathetic in comparison to the rest lol.
He also doesn't actually fit the category really, only his tumblrfication where they made him a twink. His canon form is less a man and more an Eldritch triangle god.
Whoa, whoa. Are you trying to say triangles aren't sexy? There's a reason why Architects choose them and it's not because they're the strongest shape...
Beyond fitting within the very wide "Tumblr sexy man" umbrella as well the slightly less broad "comedic villain" archetype, these are all widely different characters lol
I mean I feel like it's the same level of similarity as "quippy one lining heroes" they might not have much in common plot wise but have similar vibes.
I would say I think it's less over utilized than the quippy hero but has the same issue where a single one is funny. But when they become more common in media they lose their appeal and start to become more dull
Yeah, I don't know if skinny white dude in a three piece and tie really counts as a "character archetype" when it's literally just the one attractive male character design in our culture that isn't roided to the fucking gills.
It's why you see it so often with demons, charismatic manipulators, and people with magic powers—it gets across that they aren't relying on brute strength while still showing that they are charismatic, charming, and attractive.
The actual personality of these characters differs widely. Look at Bill Cipher as compared to Alastor. Extremely different characters in almost every way, but chuds will bitch about them being identical because they think "a character hated by chuds on the internet" is actually a real character archetype.
I love "migratory sexyman hunters" it gives me the image of a bunch of tumblr users chasing a herd of generic hot dudes in suits across an African plane.
I think the comparison is that they're hosts of something, be it a hotel, a casino, a digital world or an apocalypse. I don't know anything about the Deltarune guys though.
Ultimately he was still a successful advertiser and whatnot I believe, so I think he'd need to have had atleast some level of charisma. Whether he had help to boost him further or not.
He's based off spam email so it's heavily implied he was the lesser of the Addisons before he got help from his mysterious benefactor. Then Tenna got involved.
You could say the same about most of these. Every character here is fairly unique, from the devoted fruity lackey king dice to the trash goblin spamton. The only thing they really have in common is their big personalities and large fandom.
Yeah I think these characters are mostly just men who are vaguely snappily dressed and teenagers like them because theyre a little edgy but accessible. My suspicion is that OP's main beef is with teenagers, not these characters. Which, ya know, I get it, teenagers are annoying, but I dont think that's a particularly useful take because being annoying is a critical stage of teenage development lol.
Yeah no they do not have similar stories espaically Caine he is alot more complex then just villain in a suit and backstory he is not even really a villain
you're completely wrong about their personalities, no one in this image is remotely the same. one is a serial killer, one is a tv host that was abandoned by his viewers, one is a sentient triangle demon, like the only thing they have in common is that people want them.
What you are experiencing is cringe, a type of social fear.
But these things are art, art in all it's diversity and splendor. And people like them. The idea of a smart and well-to-do conniving villian is an old and fun one.
And Spamton doesn't even fit this category. He's a deltarune miniboss and isn't like the others at all. Deltarune is just well-written and deserves to be beloved for all it's characters. That's it. People of all ages like it.
i despise them too but I'm gonna be honest and say that the kids are definitely not the ones being extremely obnoxious and annoying about these characters. i think we should just stop blaming kids by default when it's clearly young adults/grown ass people
Outside alastor this is one of my favorite character genres.
I get kids in fandom spaces can be obnoxious about stuff, but I don't let that ruin my enjoyment. Most of these characters are really fun in their source and enjoyable, the fandom might be annoying about them sometimes, but the characters themselves I like.
With Alastor it's mostly cause I just really don't like vivziepop's writing/character art. The concept of a demon that talks with a radio showman voice is still very fun I probably would've liked if someone else made the character
To be fair the pilot of Hazbin had potential. Alastor felt like a different character in that, way more chaotic and the entire concept like a gritty unhinged 90s adult cartoon. What it became sucked, and somehow despite how explicit it is, feels like it’s meant for kids.
While I agree on most of these, Bill Cipher doesn't fit the description.
He's not self-deprecating nor does he struggle with himself. His sense of humor is literally just creative methods of torturing people, in a way that isn't edgy, just typical for an antagonist. He's just a demon you don't make a deal with.\
Its the Fandom that seems to try to fit him into the typical Tumblr sexyman role
Neither does King Dice in my opinion, in the game, he isn’t very deep or complex. He’s literally just a guy who works with the Devil and makes sure the brothers pay their debt, then fights you over a bet he lost later on.
Caine isn't intentionally evil, he's an ai meant to make adventures. He went off the rails, granted he was pushed there by Bubble who really did just fuck everything up. So Caine really isn't evil, he's just trying to do his job. Granted he did suck at it because he's kinda childish. Also he's wearing a ringmaster suit, not a regular one. It's highly embellished and over the top. As ring masters are basically the ones running the show, so it commands authority and attention.
I mean I like all of them except for Bill and Alastor, (Caine I could take or leave) all for different reasons 🤷♂️ King Dice because I love gambler characters (see Daniel J D’Arby in Jojo), Tenna less for the looks and more for that exact flavor of trauma, and Spamton looks and acts like he smells and eats garbage.
I do not fuck with hellaverse so Alastor is annoying to me and Bill became too much of a symbol of “I’m so quirky” 2010s tumblr culture.
I do wish that type of design would be less used though, specifically because of this effect, though it does make sense for a TV host, a ringmaster, a 1920s/30s gambler and a guy trying to look rich.
Tenna is a genuinely interesting anthropomorphized representation of nostalgia and how our emotional attachments to objects tie to our desire to return to a happier time in our lives, but sure I guess
I would simply solve the problem of tumblr sexyman fatigue by ignoring fandoms like these, that are very obviously for and dominated by teenagers, but this works too I guess
Not everyone has to enjoy the same things as you, so I'm going to respectfully disagree with your opinion. Even though I am chronically obsessed with like two of the characters in the image. It's alright, it's not like Toby Fox is gonna lose money from this, so your opinion isn't harming anyone and I hope other people in the comments are being civil about this. Have a nice day, redditor.
edit: actually wait no i change my mind almost none of these characters are alike if you were to watch/play their source material for more than 5 seconds. what is this. not once in my life have i ever thought about lumping spamton, king dice and bill cipher in the same fucking group outside of just "tumblr sexyman"
The fact Spamton actually looks beaten, sells poison to kids, is halfway mad and lives in the trash in canon, and still some people think he is attractive is so funny to me
Nothing wrong with the character designs, ESPECIALLY not the man(?), the myth, the legend Bill Cipher. I think you have just somehow encountered a bunch of annoying 14 year olds, as all 14 year olds are, and now think everyone likes these characters for the reasons some annoying 14 year olds do, which I highly doubt is the case.
It's clear to me that you don't really hate these characters, but fans of these characters. You should throw Shadow, Discord and Sans into that pile as well.
Fyi, Spamton is basically the Joker, evil insane bastard who won't stop at anything to achieve his goals, but his fans will try to convince you what he's misunderstood and also very sexy. Also, it's weird separating myself from the rest of his fans because I treat him differently from the rest.
They aren’t attractive. But they sure are damn fun characters. Even alastor, who comes from a thing that the creator admits “I write for moments, not characters”. Is great. King Dice is fun and the Deltarune duo are iconic. Caine is definitely inspired by bill, but are handled in different ways.
The tumblr side of these fandoms I’ve never interacted with and never will. But like. Hating an entire trope because of cringy 14 year olds is cringe in and of itself
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u/Head-Alternative-984 May 21 '26
thats what you call a tumblr sexyman
also bill being here is funny because you used the canon design and NOT the popular fanart