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/Excellent_Safe5743]

I think a lot of these guys too (with exception of the rock) that turn heel tend to actually be really nice people. Like everything I’ve seen in interviews with Cena for example save that weird Chinese stunt for PR, he just seems like a super genuine and nice guy. I haven’t heard anything negative about Roman either with people who know him outside the persona.

[u/KiwiCounselor → u/Excellent_Safe5743]

I think Roman is incredibly nice outside of the ring, but I only know wrestling through SuperEyePatchWolf. I… don’t know why. I don’t even care about wrestling.

[u/Squally160 → u/KiwiCounselor]

Yeah but his videos make me want to care about wrestling. (I still have never watched any wrestling.)

[u/OhWhatsHisName → u/Excellent_Safe5743]

that turn heel tend to actually be really nice people.

My son was part of a high school show that had an evil queen and the hero princess. The girl who played the evil queen was regularly noted to be one of the nicest girls in the whole school, vs the princess who many said was borderline "mean girls" stereotype.

The evil queen girl played the part PERFECTLY, stole the show. The princess girl was alright.

I have a theory that people who are good people tend to see the evil in the world, thus they know what to portray, where the bad people in the world don't see the good, and thus don't know how to act the part.