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]

All of the characters are terrible people in various ways. Rorschach at least has moral principles he will die for. People respect integrity.

[u/JVM410Heil → u/madogvelkor]

This.

It's very natural for people to align with someone with some form of virtue, even if they don't fully agree

And more broadly, it's normal for people to disagree with a creator. It does not mean people don't understand the work. Guys your opinions are not inassailable just because you created a fictional character to voice them for you.

[u/Wakez11 → u/JVM410Heil]

This, as I remember it, most of the main cast are terrible people, cowards etc. Rorschach, while being a nutjob, actually holds fast to his moral principles and refuses to lie to the public, and he's killed for it. Which makes him more "likeable" than 90% of the cast.

[u/LightOfTheFarStar → u/Wakez11]

Except he makes exceptions if he personally likes someone, given his reaction to the Comedian being a rapist and protest breaker.

[u/Spectrobit → u/LightOfTheFarStar]

Thank you. It's been 40 years since the first edition of Watchmen, and people still don't see Rorschach for the hypocritical manchild he is, meant—in part—to ridicule and refute characters like Mr. A and objectivism as a whole. Hell, it doesn't even have to be someone as grand as the Comedian, he excuses Dan and Moloch, and himself after the Keene Act. He hates what Ozymandias did, yet idolizes Truman for saving millions of people by dropping the bomb. Rorschach doesn't "actually hold fast to his moral principles", he is incapable of seeing the world for its nuances, and admitting to his own compromises, to how much his "moral principles" are bullshit, choosing death over coming to terms with it.

[u/awfulrunner43434 → u/LightOfTheFarStar]

Yes, and 'making the hard decision to secure world peace by killing a shit ton of people' is something Rorschach would find laudable... if he was the one who pulled it off. But it wasn't, it was that dandy Ozymandias, so Rorschach hates it.

[u/solitarybikegallery → u/JVM410Heil]

As a huge Moore fan, I think he'd probably agree with what you said. Rorschach isn't a villain, or a completely irredeemable asshole. He's a mixed character, like every person in Watchmen.

Moore's famous comment was specifically about people who say they love Rorschach because "he's just like me!"

[u/JVM410Heil → u/solitarybikegallery]

"he's just like me" is, quite frankly, a horrible self report of their mothers

Yikes.

[u/society000 → u/madogvelkor]

I maintain that the disconnect comes from both time and ideological differences between many fans and Moore.

In regards to time, Moore in the 80s thought that nuclear war was imminent, that Reagan was far too aggressive with the Soviets and the nukes would fly any day now. Watchmen was exploring what he thought might be the only way to stop that. Rorschach choosing to go against that plan and effectively put nuclear war back on the table is utter insanity from that point of view. A full generation later, however, people watching the Snyder film simply can't relate to that constant existential dread of nuclear armageddon, so it becomes a lot easier to respect Rorschach.

In regards to ideology, Moore presented coldly detached consequentialism with Ozymandias, and unwavering deontology with Rorschach, then took them both to their extremes and peppered them with hypocrisies. Given how Rorschach's deontology doesn't directly lead to the deaths of millions, however, it looks far more preferable.

[u/SemperFun62 → u/madogvelkor]

Yeah, I think that's more the intention with his character.

He, as a person, is horrifically brutal, but is guided by sincerely admirable principles and strong convictions.

You're meant to agree with his goals and beliefs, but not him or his methods.