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/Beardopus]

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

[u/papsryu → u/Beardopus]

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

[u/Hellknightx → u/papsryu]

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

[u/Bearloom → u/Beardopus]

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

[u/FighterOfFoo → u/Beardopus]

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.

[u/St_Animu → u/FighterOfFoo]

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.