I know at least Orla will know this one.
In the X-Men comics, in about 1997 or so, the character Magneto-- who Marvel alternated between portraying as a noble, tormented villain and a psycho loon-- was de-aged, given amnesia, and adopted the name "Joseph" (due to having amnesia, he didn't know what his name really was.) He set out on a quest to find himself, found Rogue of the X-Men instead, and ended up teaming up with her and the rest of the world's heroes to fight Onslaught, a villainous construct of the combination of Charles Xavier and Magneto's respective dark sides. Although he wasn't as experienced with his powers as he had been as Magneto, he was still dedicated to doing what he believed was right, and when he learned who he had been, he decided to remain with the X-Men to atone for Magneto's crimes, even after Onslaught was defeated.
So far so good.
Because he had an obvious romantic interest in Rogue, the Rogue/Gambit shippers swung into action in their fanfic, demonizing Joseph (and Magneto too while they were at it.) See, Gambit had to be Rogue's One Twue Wuv, so it had to be impossible for her to have a relationship with anyone else, which meant Joseph had to be EEEVIL. Meanwhile, many Magneto fans were complaining that Joseph was an incredible wuss. Which he wasn't. He wasn't all that well written, he put up with a lot of crap Magneto never would have, but in *canon* he wasn't a wuss. However, many Magneto fans wouldn't be satisfied until "I AM POWER!" Magneto was back (never mind that in recent years that version of Magneto was always characterized as a psycho loon). Rogue fans, for the most part (with some exceptions... hi, Orla!), wanted to see Rogue with Gambit, not Joseph. Gambit fans out and out demonized Joseph. And letter writing campaigns commenced.
As the result of all of this fervor against Joseph, the character was retconned. No, he's not the real Magneto! He's Magneto's *clone!* Who dies fighting the real Magneto! Who's eeeevil, and a psycho loon!
Good going, guys.
It is very rare to find Joseph treated well in fanfic. People write him as mind controlling Rogue into loving him (Magneto, in his villain days, mind controlled Rogue into obeying him once, and while she was mind controlled WAS WHEN SHE STARTED HER ROMANCE WITH GAMBIT. Obviously if Magneto had the slightest interest in mind controlling women into loving him that would have been the time. And whether Joseph was Magneto or not he certainly wouldn't mind control people if Magneto wouldn't.) People write him as an idiot, or a wuss, or have him regain his memories and instantly turn psycho. People write him as a Peeping Tom. *Marvel* KILLED HIM OFF because fans hated him so much. Also, demonized Magneto (because Marvel always demonizes Magneto, despite the fact that that *doesn't* seem to be what the fans want), which means that the Magneto fans who participated in bashing Joseph didn't get what they wanted either.
And I just don't get it. I am a Magneto fan, and I always liked the character of Joseph. I wish he'd been written a little better but it's not like Rogue, Gambit or in fact any characters at all were written well when he was "alive" in canon. I liked Joseph when I thought he was Magneto, and I *still* liked Joseph after he turned out to be a clone, and I continue to be torqued off with Marvel for killing him and with fellow X-Men fans (including many fellow Magneto fans) for bashing the poor guy. I've actually flamed people for Joseph-bashing. (To be fair they were submitting a story to *my* archive. Um, do some target market research, people. Bad idea to send a Joseph-lover a story where he mind-controls Rogue into loving him and heroic Gambit must save the day.)
So far so good.
Because he had an obvious romantic interest in Rogue, the Rogue/Gambit shippers swung into action in their fanfic, demonizing Joseph (and Magneto too while they were at it.) See, Gambit had to be Rogue's One Twue Wuv, so it had to be impossible for her to have a relationship with anyone else, which meant Joseph had to be EEEVIL. Meanwhile, many Magneto fans were complaining that Joseph was an incredible wuss. Which he wasn't. He wasn't all that well written, he put up with a lot of crap Magneto never would have, but in *canon* he wasn't a wuss. However, many Magneto fans wouldn't be satisfied until "I AM POWER!" Magneto was back (never mind that in recent years that version of Magneto was always characterized as a psycho loon). Rogue fans, for the most part (with some exceptions... hi, Orla!), wanted to see Rogue with Gambit, not Joseph. Gambit fans out and out demonized Joseph. And letter writing campaigns commenced.
As the result of all of this fervor against Joseph, the character was retconned. No, he's not the real Magneto! He's Magneto's *clone!* Who dies fighting the real Magneto! Who's eeeevil, and a psycho loon!
Good going, guys.
It is very rare to find Joseph treated well in fanfic. People write him as mind controlling Rogue into loving him (Magneto, in his villain days, mind controlled Rogue into obeying him once, and while she was mind controlled WAS WHEN SHE STARTED HER ROMANCE WITH GAMBIT. Obviously if Magneto had the slightest interest in mind controlling women into loving him that would have been the time. And whether Joseph was Magneto or not he certainly wouldn't mind control people if Magneto wouldn't.) People write him as an idiot, or a wuss, or have him regain his memories and instantly turn psycho. People write him as a Peeping Tom. *Marvel* KILLED HIM OFF because fans hated him so much. Also, demonized Magneto (because Marvel always demonizes Magneto, despite the fact that that *doesn't* seem to be what the fans want), which means that the Magneto fans who participated in bashing Joseph didn't get what they wanted either.
And I just don't get it. I am a Magneto fan, and I always liked the character of Joseph. I wish he'd been written a little better but it's not like Rogue, Gambit or in fact any characters at all were written well when he was "alive" in canon. I liked Joseph when I thought he was Magneto, and I *still* liked Joseph after he turned out to be a clone, and I continue to be torqued off with Marvel for killing him and with fellow X-Men fans (including many fellow Magneto fans) for bashing the poor guy. I've actually flamed people for Joseph-bashing. (To be fair they were submitting a story to *my* archive. Um, do some target market research, people. Bad idea to send a Joseph-lover a story where he mind-controls Rogue into loving him and heroic Gambit must save the day.)