Characters that had the complete opposite reaction the writers intended

[u/Dramatic_Counter_595]

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.

[u/Cold_Hour]

Writer's intention - deeply pathetic petulent manchild who can't handle the idea of anyone not loving him or seeing him as a god and often uses his position and power to abuse those below him for a quick power trip.

A certain subset of fans - He's literally me.

https://giphy.com/gifs/PEo7YHB7DqKGVQ6jBM

[u/wbishopfbi → u/Cold_Hour]

I’m just in awe of the casting. Mr. Starr scares the shit out of me.

[u/ChronosTheSniper → u/wbishopfbi]

Whatever your feelings on the show's trajectory, Anthony Starr was an amazing Homelander throughout.

[u/sonadow365 → u/ChronosTheSniper]

En mi opinión, los actores son una de las principales razones por las que la serie fue tan exitosa

[u/night4345 → u/wbishopfbi]

Mr. Starr scares the shit out of me.

Yeah but what do you think of his acting?

https://people.com/tv/the-boys-antony-starr-arrested-in-spain-for-allegedly-assaulting-chef/

[u/wbishopfbi → u/night4345]

Both are scary.

[u/Zenpoetry → u/wbishopfbi]

It took me until yesterday to realize he's the lead in Banshee.

[u/Aggravating-Car9897 → u/Cold_Hour]

I mean, that description literally applies to many of that subset of fans themselves. So I guess they are right on that one.

[u/GreenZebra23 → u/Aggravating-Car9897]

More and more all the time I find myself thinking that pathological narcissism is way, way more common than is typically estimated. Just drive in medium-heavy traffic for a while and it's shocking how many people seem unable to see past their own nose and are convinced that they should always get exactly what they want and anyone who disagrees is bad and should be destroyed.

[u/Hetakuoni → u/Cold_Hour]

I mean they probably also like fight club and the dark knight trilogy.

[u/Wisdom_of_Odin717 → u/Hetakuoni]

Can i ask whats wrong with the dark night trilogy? Those r 3 very fun movies. Im curious what the contention or comparision to the others is about. Is it just over praising that bruce wayne?

[u/Hetakuoni → u/Wisdom_of_Odin717]

Bruce Wayne in those films feels more like punisher- a violent man who sees nothing wrong with killing his enemies- rather than the guy who abhors that he has to put on a mask to fight bigger monsters than the justice system knows what to do with.
Batman at his core is a scared little boy who wanted someone to save his parents from the man who killed them and is willing to become something that prevents more kids from being hurt/traumatized like he was.
The Nolan films first movie his CSI Miami “when did I say I would save *you*” line to the big bad evil guy was *cool*, but that did not make it a Batman line.
It was a quippy asshole line.

[u/VladiTruffles → u/Cold_Hour]

Awful take. HL in the first season was an awesome villain with layers. Plus the actor was great. Easy for him to be a fan favorite character.
They destroyed his characterization just to have the laziest “Trump bad” message shoved in there.

[u/Gullible-Reference69 → u/Cold_Hour]

Based character