Characters You Don't Care For

[Dred]

don't care for due to their fans:
Dick Grayson
Wally West
Tim Drake
Hal Jordan

I never understood this. If Static suddenly got a bunch of vitriolic fans would you start disliking the character for it?

[dkrook]

Pick any Robin...Any!
While we on this ride, please no more Lanterns! Not another freaking one. Funny that others have mentioned it, but i detest Batman.

[lemonpeace]

I never understood this. If Static suddenly got a bunch of vitriolic fans would you start disliking the character for it?

if his character were not nearly compelling enough to warrant the fervor, probably. the difference being Static is an interesting character that I enjoy reading and reading about, where as these characters are generally nothing particularly interesting narratively or culturally and they have very loud and toxic agitators among their fandom. in fact, it's interesting that you brought up Static, given the nature Milestone's inception, because one of the top things that pushed me away from these characters in particular was noticing the way said agitators within their fandoms regularly engaged in willfully ignorant, gaslight-y, thinly veiled racist gatekeeping toward any character of color (and their fans) that was perceived as a threat or seen as an affront to their particular fav. *shrugs* yeah, some fans can take the fun out of these characters; it's not a hard concept to grasp. there are worst and weaker justifications for not caring for characters ("there are too many [insert brand] characters" for example).

[j9ac9k]

if his character were not nearly compelling enough to warrant the fervor, probably. the difference being Static is an interesting character that I enjoy reading and reading about, where as these characters are generally nothing particularly interesting narratively or culturally and they have very loud and toxic agitators among their fandom. in fact, it's interesting that you brought up Static, given the nature Milestone's inception, because one of the top things that pushed me away from these characters in particular was noticing the way said agitators within their fandoms regularly engaged in willfully ignorant, gaslight-y, thinly veiled racist gatekeeping toward any character of color (and their fans) that was perceived as a threat or seen as an affront to their particular fav. *shrugs* yeah, some fans can take the fun out of these characters; it's not a hard concept to grasp. there are worst and weaker justifications for not caring for characters ("there are too many [insert brand] characters" for example).

Wow -- well, there's nothing insulting there. I actually thought about avoiding this thread because I was thinking nothing good can come from it. Suspicions confirmed.

[J. D. Guy]

I never understood this. If Static suddenly got a bunch of vitriolic fans would you start disliking the character for it?

A lot of people don't realize or acknowledge this, but fandom can and will have an effect on an individual fan's experiences with the subject of said fandom, both for better and for worse.

In spite of the frequent number who do not realize or acknowledge this, this concept is a pretty common and natural one. It is perhaps due to the intersecting realities some people have that allows them to be more acutely and more actively aware of this phenomenon compared to those who are more able to take it for granted.

[failo.legendkiller]

Harley Quinn - I’m avoiding everything featuring her. In my personal DC Universe she doesn’t exist at all.

Duke Thomas - I’m essentially doing the same as for Harley.

Jessica Cruz - She’s so boring to me.

New Gods & Fourth World characters - I’ve never cared about anyone of them.

Magic characters (Dr Fate, Zatanna, Etrigan the demon, John Constantine, klarion etc.) - not my cup of tea.

Lobo, Jimmy Olsen, Harper Rowe, Barry Allen, Wonder Woman - If they were erased from the DCU, I wouldn’t even notice.

[Morgoth]

I never understood this. If Static suddenly got a bunch of vitriolic fans would you start disliking the character for it?

There are lot of people, who can't stand entire franchises, like Star Wars, Marvel/DC, Star Trek, Attack on Titan, etc, just because of their fans. This is entirely individual, but very often it can affect the perception, even if the character itself or the franchise is done very well.

[Agent Z]

don't care for due to their fans:
Dick Grayson
Wally West
Tim Drake
Hal Jordan

Speaking as a black guy, these fandoms aren't even close to the most racist I've encountered. I'm not even sure what minority character Dick Grayson fans are supposedly intimidated by. And if you're talking about the mess with Wallace West, even Wally's black fans hated his guts at first and for damn good reason. He's one of my go to examples of how not to do a race lift or include diversity.

[Tzigone]

There are lot of people, who can't stand entire franchises, like Star Wars, Marvel/DC, Star Trek, Attack on Titan, etc, just because of their fans. This is entirely individual, but very often it can affect the perception, even if the character itself or the franchise is done very well.

More than that, for me, it's usually fandom ardently supporting a character, even when they do bad things and blaming other, completely innocent characters, (this especially applies to to certain villains like Smallville Lex or OUAT's Regina) where I can then just end up disliking every time I see the character because I know it's going to either result in the fandom blaming another character for what they did, justifying what they did, or using the good thing they did as an argument they really are good despite prior heinous deeds. Obviously, when I'm not involved in the fandom, and only watch/read the material, this isn't really an issue. But if I'm on message boards, it is. And, of course, if showrunners/writers/etc. react to that fandom love by sweeping all the bad things the person did under the rug and wanting us to root for them, it that affects my enjoyment, regardless of if I'm involved in fandom or not.

But more that that, emotion flavors perception. If every time you see a character, you think of very unpleasant fans, then that character makes you feel irritated/annoyed/angry and you don't want to see them.


As for characters I'm "meh" on - there are so many. Some, of course, I've never tried to get into, and never read much of (especially continually expanding franchises) just because they had nothing to make me care to look. But I liked the concept of Adam Strange, only to find I just couldn't really get invested. I mildly like silver age Hal, but have little feeling for the modern version. John Stewart (though I don't dislike him like early post-COIE Guy). Martian Manhunter is another I tried to pursue, but didn't grab me. Stargirl - I expected her to be a bit of brat, but maturing, from what I'd read about her, but didn't expect her stepfather to be such a jerk. Ended up just overall not interested.

[thanatoskun]

Static, Wally West, Donna, Jaime Reyes, Tim Drake, Bart Allen, Batwoman, Jimmy Olsen...

[king81992]

Don't care for/ dislike:
Deathstroke
Lobo
Crush
Batman
Damian
Joker
Harley
Punchline
Lady Shiva
Icon
Amanda Waller
Grail

[Holt]

Never got the appeal of Elongated Man.

[Robotman]

Jon Kent
Firestorm
Elongated Man
Jade

[Bunch of Coconuts]

Any Bat-family hero. Just can’t get into them, period.

There are a few villains I enjoy, though.

[SiegePerilous02]

A lot of people don't realize or acknowledge this, but fandom can and will have an effect on an individual fan's experiences with the subject of said fandom, both for better and for worse.

In spite of the frequent number who do not realize or acknowledge this, this concept is a pretty common and natural one. It is perhaps due to the intersecting realities some people have that allows them to be more acutely and more actively aware of this phenomenon compared to those who are more able to take it for granted.

More than that, for me, it's usually fandom ardently supporting a character, even when they do bad things and blaming other, completely innocent characters, (this especially applies to to certain villains like Smallville Lex or OUAT's Regina) where I can then just end up disliking every time I see the character because I know it's going to either result in the fandom blaming another character for what they did, justifying what they did, or using the good thing they did as an argument they really are good despite prior heinous deeds. Obviously, when I'm not involved in the fandom, and only watch/read the material, this isn't really an issue. But if I'm on message boards, it is. And, of course, if showrunners/writers/etc. react to that fandom love by sweeping all the bad things the person did under the rug and wanting us to root for them, it that affects my enjoyment, regardless of if I'm involved in fandom or not.

This is legit. I don't have this issue with comic fandoms as much, but it definitely pops up in other genre shows and fandoms, particularly when it comes to sympathetic anti-heroes/antagonists who get woobified too much by a fandom that turns around and bashes other characters. Often times said characters being victims of their favorites, or who are just as misunderstood and flawed but somehow get vilified into being worse while their favorites flaws are downplayed.

That being said:

if his character were not nearly compelling enough to warrant the fervor, probably. the difference being Static is an interesting character that I enjoy reading and reading about, where as these characters are generally nothing particularly interesting narratively or culturally and they have very loud and toxic agitators among their fandom. in fact, it's interesting that you brought up Static, given the nature Milestone's inception, because one of the top things that pushed me away from these characters in particular was noticing the way said agitators within their fandoms regularly engaged in willfully ignorant, gaslight-y, thinly veiled racist gatekeeping toward any character of color (and their fans) that was perceived as a threat or seen as an affront to their particular fav. *shrugs* yeah, some fans can take the fun out of these characters; it's not a hard concept to grasp. there are worst and weaker justifications for not caring for characters ("there are too many [insert brand] characters" for example).

Where the hell is this for the Dick Grayson fans? Can you provide a specific example of a minority they don't like? If anything any vitriol they have is towards the fans of Batman and Red Hood, and sometimes that's a two way street for all involved. Tim Drake fans being racist is also out of the blue. If it's because they don't like Damian, that's because Damian replaced him and Tim's been in a rut ever since. A white kid replacing him would get the exact same result.

Hal Jordan fans as a rule just want to read their favorite, but get told there is something inherently wrong with them for preferring him. Other Lantern fans act proud of bashing him. Of course that's gonna get some blowback. I'm sure there are some toxic fanboys in the Hal fandom as there are for everyone, but no fan likes to see their character get bashed, so they generally bash back. That one isn't even remotely one sided, especially as we've had fans of other GLs bash Hal in his own thread.

The entire Wally situation is a mess. It's not that fanbase's fault their beloved character was nuked from continuity and was replaced with a new version that was different in looks and personality. Once Wally proper came back and they smoothed out the edges of Wallace, I don't recall seeing much fandom wars between the two, at least not on here.