Which DC character has been the most consistently portrayed?

[DrNewGod]

Superman had morphed quite a bit in his first couple of years, as had Batman. Silver Age reimaginings, and reboots following CoIE and Flashpoint have changed numerous characters.

Now its only natural, for there to be some change over time as these characters are handed from one creative team to the next, especially for the older ones. Who's held up the best? Out of all of DC's characters, which has been most consistently portrayed?

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Given that consistency has never been DC's strong suit, no DC character has ever been consistently portrayed across the decades.

That being said, probably Wonder Woman and Barry Allen are among the most consistent in terms of acting in character.

Their portrayals may have been changed post-New 52, but for decades before that, they stayed the most true to themselves. Also, Superman from the early 1940s until New 52 was relatively consistent in personality.

[Frontier]

Plastic Man?

[DrNewGod]

Plastic Man?

Since his revival, probably so. But he's a far span from the one sane guy in a nutty world that he was in his original Quality run.

I'd throw a vote for Ras al Ghul. He's been brilliant, dignified, but utterly ruthless from appearance one.

[SecretWarrior]

Alfred? Riddler? Joker?

[Godlike13]

Ric Grayson. Consistently awful...

[Tzigone]

Alfred? Riddler? Joker?

Definitely not Alfred and the Joker. Alfred was the kinda goofy comic relief character for a long while. And the Joker was notably different in golden, silver, and current ages. I've read some letters pages from the silver age where people complained about how inadequate the Joker was compared to his golden age self. He's on a much bigger scale now than he used to be, but then many are. I don't know that I'd say he's as different as Alfred, though, who is really different. Not just in personality. I mean, he's had several backstories and wasn't a parental figure for Bruce at all early on and so forth and so on.

I think newer characters are bound to be more consistent, just for having been around less time and gone through fewer hands and fewer cultural changes IRL. How old does a character have to be to be considered in this list, do you think?

[qwertyuiop1998]

I will give it to Barry and Clark, Considering Supes long history and the amount of his issues, He was very consistently portrayed.....Relatively

[The Darknight Detective]

The most consistent character has to be either a new one or an old one that didn't stay around too long. The longer a character is around, the more inconsistencies that will pop up.

[Jadeb]

Since the Silver Age, probably Green Arrow, just because he has such a templated personality.

[mathew101281]

Lobo he just became a more over the top version of what he always was

[scribbleMind]

Crazy Jane. She's consistently inconsistent.

[Tzigone]

Since the Silver Age, probably Green Arrow, just because he has such a templated personality.

Some ways yes, some ways no. For 15+ years, he was completely faithful to Dinah and not deemed a creeper (Hal's though on Kara) or a lothario or any of that. That definitely changed. He did keep his (1969-created or 1968?) liberalness. Got more kill-ery in the later '80s, and that's a significant change to me. He's (at times at least) also been retconned to a significantly less moral person back before his island-time, too, but I'm not sure that counts, sine it's in the past, rather than present. While he certainly had some jerkish moments in the past (when he found out Roy was doing drugs), he became a much less-good person along the way, just as Batman did. Sometimes better, though. I like pre-COIE Ollie much better than a lot of post-COIE Ollie, even if I do like new Arrow characters introduced since.

[DrNewGod]

I will give it to Barry and Clark, Considering Supes long history and the amount of his issues, He was very consistently portrayed.....Relatively

I could see Barry, but Clark's been through multiple phases. I will say that Superman has been pretty consistent ever since they dialed back his social avenger depiction in the late 1930s, but how Clark presents himself has changed from time to time.

[Frontier]

I wouldn't even go with Barry. The one going around in the current comics and pops up in Justice League books is a far cry from Silver Age Barry or the one Mark Waid wrote.