[Interesting Trope] Attempts at fanservice/virality that failed not because they were hated, but because nobody noticed them or cared at all.

[u/mp3help]

1) Hoopy the Hoop, Portal (2007) When you defeat GLaDOS and her room is destroyed at the end of the game, debris rains down in the final cutscene, including a big metal hoop that bounces around a bit. Developer Erik Wolpaw said the team dubbed it "Hoopy the Hoop" and expected it to become the big meme of Portal. Of course, none of the fans paid much attention to the hoop since "The Cake is a Lie" became the biggest meme of the game, and overall one of the biggest video game memes of all time.

2) Burgh, Pokemon Black and White (2010) When designing Burgh, developer Yusuke Ohmura said Gamefreak had many of their female employees give input on his design to create their ideal handsome man. However, as someone who's been in the Pokemon fandom for almost 3 decades, in the 15+ years since Pokemon Black and White released, I have personally never seen any fans swoon over Burgh, or even mention him in general. If anything, characters like N and Colress are far more well-known within the fandom as the most handsome and beloved male characters of Pokemon Gen 5.

[u/Big-Director4193]

[u/therealchadius → u/Big-Director4193]

The 90s and early 2000s were filled with "Watch out Mario/Sonic! Forgettable Platforming Mascot is here to take the crown!" They would usually get 1 game and then drop off the face of the earth.

[u/5050Saint → u/therealchadius]

That and terms like Halo-killer or Final Fantasy-killer. It was the click bait of its time.

[u/eagleblue44 → u/5050Saint]

Has there ever been an instance of something being advertised as an (insert game) killer that actually ended up being just as if not more popular than the game it said it was killing? I remember there being an oblivion killer that also epically failed.