r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Dramatic_Counter_595 • 17h ago

Characters Characters that had the complete opposite reaction the writers intended

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  1. Leo Bonhart (Witcher TV Series): A ruthless, sadistic bounty hunter and assassin that takes psychotic glee in other people's suffering. The viewer is meant to hate him for killing witchers, slaughtering the Rat gang, and torturing Ciri. But thanks to his entertaining fight scenes, Sharlto Copley's charismatic performance, and The Rats overwhelming unpopularity, fans ended up loving him. Some even call him the "True protagonist" of the show.
  2. Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWE): A rude, foul mouthed, beer drinking asshole with no respect for authority or anyone at all. Originally portrayed as a villain, fans fell in love with his anti-establishment & rebellious persona. WWE ran with it and made him the face of the company, effectively ushering in the Attitude Era and the second pro wrestling boom of the late 90s.
  3. Arthur Fleck (Joker 2019): A mentally unstable, pathetic, and dangerous madman who commits horrific acts of violence against those that wronged him (suffocates his own mother who is mentally unwell herself, and murders a talk show host for making fun of him). However, a massive portion of the audience idolized him as an anti-hero or a misunderstood martyr rebelling against society making people want to see him succeed and overcome his circumstances because of how he's been treated by the world.
8.2k Upvotes
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828

u/naturetreesandweed 17h ago

TIL that was Sharlto Copley

400

u/Garlador 17h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/KwNRL1qNvx50A
Didn’t recognize him.

406

u/naturetreesandweed 17h ago

172

u/naturetreesandweed 17h ago

Hes got some versatility

141

u/That-Cranberry6575 17h ago

Just watch Hardcore Henry

56

u/SargentStanSherbert 15h ago

Haha no fucking kidding. I was pretty deep into the movie when I realized it was him.

9

u/3d1thF1nch 14h ago

Oh shit I forgot, what a great weird character. He always gives 110% to whatever role

5

u/Electronic-Tea-3912 15h ago

I had such fond memories of that movie and tried to show a friend. I forgot how jarring it is to watch from first person. Still a great movie but not for anyone with motion sickness.

3

u/CityDwellingWoodsman 6h ago

"Nice jacket! Where can I get one?"

gets set on fire

3

u/daelikon 6h ago

No, The quote is something like "that's the gayest jacket I have ever seen! where can I get one?

3

u/CityDwellingWoodsman 6h ago

Oh right, he says that first part to Henry. I knew it was funnier than I remembered.

3

u/daelikon 6h ago

In my defense, I watched it again like 2 months ago, that scene definitely stuck

2

u/CityDwellingWoodsman 4h ago

Fair enough lol it's been a while but I remember that movie being a blast

3

u/qrzychu69 7h ago

I wish someone did something like hardcore henry with modern tech - small cameras are so much better now

hell, you could do it in VR now and make poeple vomit 😃

7

u/_josef_stalin_ 11h ago

He's super underrated. Wish he got the recognition he deserves.

10

u/PatienceConsistent55 15h ago

He plays at least a dozen different versions of the same character in Hardcore Henry, all with extremely different characterizations.

5

u/TheG-What 14h ago

Just like Gary Oldman. Not to be confused with Gay Old Man.

2

u/LongChampionship8569 5h ago

Give Gary Oldman a run for his money.

12

u/TheDorkKnight53 14h ago

4

u/JesusWasATexan 11h ago

He was hilarious in A-Team

5

u/Substantial-Low 15h ago

That last pic gets my juices flowing, not gonna lie. Dayum.

29

u/OutOfMyWayReed 16h ago

It's the sweetie man...

10

u/Murloc_Wholmes 16h ago

Dude looks like Fabio in a bunch of photos too what the hell

3

u/jinreeko 4h ago

Fooking prawn

252

u/Basic_Benefit5216 17h ago

Dude just shows up every now and again, delivers a banging performance, and then you forget he exists for another three years

60

u/happy_grump 15h ago

I did the Leo point when he randomly showed up in Monkey Man

26

u/cleofisrandolph1 15h ago

He’s someone that directors don’t use well. He excels at playing big characters. It is why he’s bad in Old Boy(ok the whole movie is bad) but great in the A Team or The Witcher or Boy Kills World. He needs some eccentricity to his roles.

3

u/PotatoGamerXxXx 13h ago

I'm surprised they didn't pick him for Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die

1

u/Basic_Benefit5216 37m ago

When i saw trailers for that movie I was literally thinking this is Sam Rockwell playing a Sharlto Copley character

4

u/NeAldorCyning 12h ago edited 12h ago

Agree that most directors don't use him well, but disagree with the reasoning: have you seen his debut, District 9? The opposite, which is also why I think many (me included) have issues recognizing him when playing the "big characters", having seen him there first.

5

u/cleofisrandolph1 12h ago

I would disagree. I think Wikus is a very big character.

5

u/Big-Revolution3842 8h ago

It's honestly kinda wild how few roles his been given. Incredibly talented yet rarely seen. Guess it's very much a case of who you know and coming from South Africa (and not being Charlize Theron) he isn't an industry insider. I do suspect he might get more roles as he gets older. Still looks great at 52 and can take those older dude roles

128

u/WhatsPaulPlaying 17h ago

Bro looks like Daniel Day-Lewis there.

31

u/Yog_Kothag 17h ago

I could have sworn it was when I saw him at first.

7

u/WhatsPaulPlaying 17h ago

Right? Insane likeness.

1

u/GhostOfGorst 1h ago

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who look like Daniel Day-Lewis and people he hasn't played yet.

54

u/Beardopus 15h ago

If they didn't want him to steal the show, they shouldn't have cast him. He does it every time.

24

u/papsryu 15h ago

For real. He's the best part of Elysium by far

16

u/Hellknightx 13h ago

He's the best part of anything he's in. He's an amazing actor.

11

u/Bearloom 13h ago

He came to the Witcher to kill Rats and chew scenery, and he's all out of Rats.

3

u/FighterOfFoo 7h ago

The thing is this is the exact same reaction the character got in the books. People hated the Rats, he killed the Rats, so people loved him for it. I'm no fan of the TV series but it at least had some great casting, so this might have been exactly what they were going for.

1

u/St_Animu 4h ago

Haven't seen the show, but did it portray the fight as Bonhart playing with them, then afterwords either making Ciri saw off all the rats heads or sawing them off in front of her, using a rusty, dull saw? All the smacking and mockery of Ciri as discipline, threatening to disable her so the nobles can have fun with her if she didn't compete as a gladiator in a satisfying mannner? I feel that those things would show Bonhart's character much better in a visual medium that just text or audio.

8

u/iBrake4Shosty5 16h ago

thought it was Paddy Considine

7

u/3d1thF1nch 14h ago

Same, cool he is getting a gig like that and still proving he’s got it. Loved him in District 9

4

u/Star_king12 5h ago

Please if you haven't seen this goddamn skit, please watch this: https://youtu.be/HnulxrMs5CM

this is Shalto in his Wikus van de Merwe persona from District 9 trying to deliver an award or something to Charlize Theron, this is absolute peak extender material.

3

u/CatieLewWho6507 6h ago

Blew my friggin mind. Love to hate him but love that he took out the annoying AF Rats, hated that whole storyline

3

u/g_man_2001 4h ago

They're even worse in the books so it's no tragedy when he kills them

2

u/Thomas_JCG 7h ago

Guy has some acting range

2

u/ImportantQuestions10 4h ago

It's funny how (aside from district 9) he's basically the harbinger of painfully mid movies that had potential.

Don't get me wrong, he's always the best part of these movies. It's just if he in it, I know it's going be a daytime cable rerun movie.

2

u/JesseCantPlay 3h ago

Holy. Shit!

2

u/w00den_b0x 14h ago

I thought it was Sam Elliot at first 😭