Tough, since I'm not always aware of fandom's opinions.
Overrated characters:
1. Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He had great lines and a good actor, but around S6 I got sick of him. Canon was invested in redeeming him through a soul, suffering, and loving Buffy. Fandom kept insisting that Spike could do no wrong, and that he was a misunderstood woobie who everyone picked on, and the whole history of mass murder didn't count. I stopped caring, fast.
2. Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. Arrogant rich boy with abused past, who has drinking and anger problems. Also, racist and classist. Fandom kept giving him a pass on all his bad behavior, and vilified his girlfriends for being so mean to him.
3. Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. Rich spoiled bratty Slytherin who only got character development in book 6. Puzzlingly popular in fandom before book 6.
4. I ran out of characters. I'd go with the fandom woobie, the character who's bad behavior gets excused and minimized, and who uniformly gets characterized as a kicked upon angsty puppy. I have no problem with people liking characters who do shitty stuff. Hell, I understand because I have a thing for psychopaths. But I don't like it when fans give characters a pass, and excuse their flaws.
Underrated characters:
1. Sarah Connor from Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Tough, resourceful, determined to stop the robot apocalypse, and not as ruthless as she likes to think she is. She's too compassionate, and too afraid of her human frailty to pull off stone cold ruthlessness, although she's still plenty badass. She's interestingly complex, and I wish fandom would make more vids for her.
2. Renee Montoya from DC/Batman comics. She started as a hardboiled cop for Gotham City, and is now the Question. I like her for the hardshell, the undercurrent of tension, and being so human in a city run with superheroes and supervillains. When she's written and illustrated well, she's got depth, nuance, and dynamism. (Although if she's done badly, I'd rather skip it in order to keep my interpretation of her.)
3. Weevil Navarro from Veronica Mars. Biker/gang member into quid pro quo deals. Fascinating, full of good lines, had a different take on Neptune, and an interesting moral code. Canon and fandom weren't into him. I wished he had more screentime.
4. Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. She comes across as the standard self-effacing plucky orphan shoujo heroine with superpowered niceness. It's easy to overlook how she's a survivor. She appreciates how getting through the day is a victory in itself, in finding small pleasures despite massive trauma, and reconnecting despite the pain of loss. I wish people would stop dismissing her as a delicate flower.
5. Mai from Avatar: the Last Airbender. She's not one of my favorite characters, but I don't see why a lot of fans think she's so awful. I liked her deadpan dry wit. (I prefer how she brings the funny over Sokka's slapstick moments). I liked how she undercut the Fire Royalty siblings' tendencies towards melodrama.
You know, everyone on my flist thinks Spike is an overrated character, regardless of whether they like him or not. Poor boy.
Fandom kept giving him a pass on all his bad behavior, and vilified his girlfriends for being so mean to him.
Luckily, the canon didn't hold with that kind of BS.
Weevil Navarro from Veronica Mars. Biker/gang member into quid pro quo deals. Fascinating, full of good lines, had a different take on Neptune, and an interesting moral code. Canon and fandom weren't into him. I wished he had more screentime.
SAME HERE. I love Weevil so much. Weevil/Veronica was actually my OTP.
Overrated characters:
1. Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He had great lines and a good actor, but around S6 I got sick of him. Canon was invested in redeeming him through a soul, suffering, and loving Buffy. Fandom kept insisting that Spike could do no wrong, and that he was a misunderstood woobie who everyone picked on, and the whole history of mass murder didn't count. I stopped caring, fast.
2. Logan Echolls from Veronica Mars. Arrogant rich boy with abused past, who has drinking and anger problems. Also, racist and classist. Fandom kept giving him a pass on all his bad behavior, and vilified his girlfriends for being so mean to him.
3. Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter. Rich spoiled bratty Slytherin who only got character development in book 6. Puzzlingly popular in fandom before book 6.
4. I ran out of characters. I'd go with the fandom woobie, the character who's bad behavior gets excused and minimized, and who uniformly gets characterized as a kicked upon angsty puppy. I have no problem with people liking characters who do shitty stuff. Hell, I understand because I have a thing for psychopaths. But I don't like it when fans give characters a pass, and excuse their flaws.
Underrated characters:
1. Sarah Connor from Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Tough, resourceful, determined to stop the robot apocalypse, and not as ruthless as she likes to think she is. She's too compassionate, and too afraid of her human frailty to pull off stone cold ruthlessness, although she's still plenty badass. She's interestingly complex, and I wish fandom would make more vids for her.
2. Renee Montoya from DC/Batman comics. She started as a hardboiled cop for Gotham City, and is now the Question. I like her for the hardshell, the undercurrent of tension, and being so human in a city run with superheroes and supervillains. When she's written and illustrated well, she's got depth, nuance, and dynamism. (Although if she's done badly, I'd rather skip it in order to keep my interpretation of her.)
3. Weevil Navarro from Veronica Mars. Biker/gang member into quid pro quo deals. Fascinating, full of good lines, had a different take on Neptune, and an interesting moral code. Canon and fandom weren't into him. I wished he had more screentime.
4. Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket. She comes across as the standard self-effacing plucky orphan shoujo heroine with superpowered niceness. It's easy to overlook how she's a survivor. She appreciates how getting through the day is a victory in itself, in finding small pleasures despite massive trauma, and reconnecting despite the pain of loss. I wish people would stop dismissing her as a delicate flower.
5. Mai from Avatar: the Last Airbender. She's not one of my favorite characters, but I don't see why a lot of fans think she's so awful. I liked her deadpan dry wit. (I prefer how she brings the funny over Sokka's slapstick moments). I liked how she undercut the Fire Royalty siblings' tendencies towards melodrama.
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Fandom kept giving him a pass on all his bad behavior, and vilified his girlfriends for being so mean to him.
Luckily, the canon didn't hold with that kind of BS.
Weevil Navarro from Veronica Mars. Biker/gang member into quid pro quo deals. Fascinating, full of good lines, had a different take on Neptune, and an interesting moral code. Canon and fandom weren't into him. I wished he had more screentime.
SAME HERE. I love Weevil so much. Weevil/Veronica was actually my OTP.
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