There is nothing wrong with the character—it’s just generational hatred of the idea that there could be new star trek content and latching on to weird shit to complain about. Lots of “fans” complained about TNG when it first started airing.
He honestly has a pretty interesting character arc for the era and show he was a part of— being a young princeling, fucking up in school and ultimately realizing that he needed to go his own way and become a The Traveller (over the course of 7 seasons of episodic story telling admittedly so it’s a little woobly).
can you give any references to this “trope” and it being “tired” by the time TNG first aired? Just curious what other shows had young brainiacs that so angered audiences to the point that they were fed up with the whole idea by TNG’s premiere.