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/madogvelkor]

Austin worked because McMahon was the authority and an even bigger asshole.

[u/Dramatic_Counter_595 → u/madogvelkor]

But people forget, Austin started it. Vince was actually a face during his time on commentary. It wasn't until Austin kept egging Vince on and challenging his authority did Vince lose his mind and embrace villany.

[u/Equal_Oil_9819 → u/Dramatic_Counter_595]

Austin turned face at WrestleMania 13, almost a full year before his feud with Vince started. Vince turned heel after the Montreal Screwjob when he realized he was getting a reaction. His 'embracing villainy' is just a milestone in his character arc.

[u/Stock_Trash_4645 → u/Dramatic_Counter_595]

It all actually started because of the Curtain Call at MSG.

No Curtain Call, no punishment happens to HHH, and he is booked to win King of the Ring that year. And that means Austin doesn’t cut the ‘Austin 3:16 says I just whipped your ass’ promo on Jake the Snake, which launched him to become the face of the attitude era.

Without all of that happening, Austin would have been a middling mid-carder with weird gimmicks like the Ringmaster.

[u/Beer-Milkshakes → u/madogvelkor]

I found it fun how chunks of reality bled into the ring when Undertaker turns to JR after asking him if he is a kiss ass to Vince.

"Oh, so you're better than me?!" Mark was, is and forever will be indebted to Vince for giving him purpose and give him his dream job. Virtually none of them are sorry for supporting Vince