New Girl: 10 Times Schmidt Was The Show's Antagonist | ScreenRant
Schmidt is one of the most popular characters in New Girl. This is not only due to the fact that he is often hilarious, but he also shows a ton of character progression in the series. Yet, even with this being the case, his road to becoming a better person has a lot of bumps along the way. In fact, in many cases, he seems to be the worst character of the group when it comes to morals. He is just a mess of a person during the early seasons of the series.
Now, that is by no means meant to disregard his outstanding growth. However, criticism is warranted for the vast amount of awful actions he partakes in. In fact, he even seems to be the show's antagonist a lot of time because of this type of behavior. Fans certainly dislike him during his worst moments of the series. There is just a lot of bad that comes before the good.
10 His Entire Personality At The Beginning
Schmidt is immensely unbearable during the beginning stages of the series. Besides all the bad acts he did, he is a typical "bro" type who only focuses on his self image. He also puts most of his effort into dating, rather than being a good friend.
Overall, this is what made the Douchebag Jar such a necessity. Although he is a part of the group, it is apparent that he has far too many bad qualities that make it hard for them to deal with him.
9 When He Tries To Kiss Jess
Jess is a fantastic friend, as she plans Schmidt a big 29th birthday party. She rents a school bus for him and it turns into a nice party for him. This is where the two definitely seem to become closer.
Yet, Schmidt ends up taking it too far, as he tries to kiss Jess. This is very bad, as it displays the fact that Schmidt has trouble just being friends with woman. Jess displays zero romantic interest, yet he still goes for it anyway.
8 When Winston Finds Out About Him And Cece
The opening fling between Schmidt and Cece is entertaining to watch. Yet, the way Winston discovers it is very disrespectful to him. The two are in his trunk when he drives to Mexico to see Shelby.
When the police at the border discover them, Winston is understandably upset by what he sees - and the fact that they kept hiding, knowing it would potentially create serious border issues, is eyebrow-raising. At this point in time, Winston also expresses interest in Cece, so it is just a very hard moment for him to deal with.
7 When He Dates Nadia
After Cece calls it quits with Schmidt the first go around, he immediately starts to date Nadia. It is apparent that he did this solely to make Cece jealous, as she is her roommate. This is just a classless move from him.
It is very disappointing that he does this, as Cece is clearly upset about it. It also leads to Cece confessing her true feelings for him, which is nice. Yet, this is just such a disrespectful move from Schmidt, as it shows just how selfish he can be.
6 When He Tries To Sabotage Cece's Wedding
Cece's wedding day is already hard enough, as it is clear that she does not possess feelings for Shivrang. Yet, Schmidt makes it even worse, as he purposely tries to sabotage her wedding.
This is such a selfish move by him, even if the two are destined to fail. It is good that they decide not to get married too, but man, Schmidt really goes low during this episode. It showed that he is unable to allow Cece to move on, as he simply wants her for himself.
5 When He Is Insensitive To Jess After She Gets Fired
Jess has a lot of trouble finding a new job after her boss fires her. She takes on a part-time position, but it just is not enough to help pay for rent. In response to this, Schmidt is immensely insensitive and ridicules Jess constantly.
He even turns off their hot water as a form of punishment because of Jess. This is just some true villainous behavior. Although rent money is obviously in need, Schmidt does not offer any encouragement during her hard time.
4 When He Cheats On Cece And Elizabeth
This is easily the worst thing Schmidt does in the series. He secretly dates Cece and Elizabeth at the same time, as he lies to them and says he dumps the other. Thankfully though, the cat comes out of the bag and he loses both of them.
Schmidt also uses his past as an excuse for this behavior, which is truly reprehensible. It is truly a disaster when he does all of this, as he selfishly hurts two wonderful people. At this point of the series, he does not deserve either of them.
3 When He Constantly Belittles Nick
Although his friendship with Nick is immensely strong, Schmidt often puts Nick down. In fact, there are a lot of insults in the process, as it is apparent that Schmidt simply sees himself as better than Nick.
This is very disrespectful of Schmidt, as Nick is the person who keeps him together during college. Just because Schmidt is ahead of Nick professionally for awhile in the series, it does not warrant such horrendous behavior.
2 When He Creates The "No Nail Oath"
After Schmidt finds out about Jess and Nick, he is outraged. This is due to the fact that he creates the "No Nail Oath" as a way to stop any of the guys from dating Jess. This, of course, is extremely out of line, as Jess is her own person, and can decide who she dates.
Schmidt takes it even further when he makes Jess kiss him to erase what happens between her and Nick. This backfires too, so it is just a disaster of a storyline. Schmidt has no business trying to control everyone's love life.
1 When He Aims To Break Jess And Nick Up
After Jess makes Schmidt tell Cece that he cheats on her, he aims to get revenge on her and Nick. This is abysmal behavior, as he refuses to take any responsibility for his atrocious actions. Instead, he plays the victim.
Also, it is truly sad that he wants to ruin his best friend's happiness. It is apparent that Nick is the happiest in the series when with Jess, but Schmidt does not care because he is upset about losing his TWO girlfriends.