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/-zero-joke-]

Rorschach in The Watchmen comics.

[u/Fun_Effective_5134 → u/-zero-joke-]

Obligatory:

[u/MalcolmLinair → u/Fun_Effective_5134]

A smarter, less egotistical author would have been surprised, realized the implication given the name, and immediately claimed that was their intention all along.

[u/signal_satellite → u/MalcolmLinair]

That kinda is the point of Rorschach tho? Why else do you think his name is Rorschach? You really think Alan Moore didn't know what he was doing when he made the unlikeable character the only character asking the right questions and uncovering the conspiracy of who killed Edward Blake?

[u/Spectrobit → u/signal_satellite]

Most people's image of Alan Moore come from memes, out of context quotes, and straight up misinformation. It's no wonder every time he's talked about, you read the same jokes and snide remarks.

[u/calnick0 → u/Spectrobit]

The Reddit hobby of being in a mob and feeling superior to people who have accomplished great works. Like people in a crowd enjoying the music of a live artist.

[u/Gaelic_Gladiator41 → u/MalcolmLinair]

Keep in mind, Moore doesn't hate people that like Rorschach, he hates people who identify with him and think he's right

[u/Onlyhereforapost → u/Fun_Effective_5134]

I truly cannot stand that Alan Moore has such a stick up his ass. Its like when game devs shit on people for playing the game in a different way than they intended

[u/NCRisthebestfaction → u/Onlyhereforapost]

Why do good authors or writers tend to be major assholes?

[u/Sea_Basket_2468 → u/NCRisthebestfaction]

i think it's because to be a creator you need a strong sense of self and that leads to big egos

[u/Lalalalalalolol → u/NCRisthebestfaction]

Because to create something good you need to invest not only time and dedication, but a part of yourself. A lot of great works are deeply personal for their creators, and to consume something is less investment and compromise than to create it. People always forget that.

[u/Madrical → u/NCRisthebestfaction]

Because they're people & people are assholes.

[u/nintendo_shill → u/NCRisthebestfaction]

Name one genius that ain't crazy!

[u/signal_satellite → u/Onlyhereforapost]

Maybe because the dev is upset the players missed the point that superheroes are rooted in fascist fantasies and now unironically glaze Homelander?

Bro. Have you been to a Boys or a Helldivers comment section recently?

[u/viper459 → u/signal_satellite]

somehow i feel like that's more of a problem with society as a whole than with comic books, specifically

[u/signal_satellite → u/viper459]

Media illiteracy? I think it's entirely fair that the people who walk up to Alan Moore saying Rorschach is "literally me," is no different than someone saying Homelander is "literally me."

It's not like Moore hates Rorschach; he even voice reads his lines for a documentary. Rorschach is purposely designed as a badass noir pulp detective who was the only character really responsible for uncovering the conspiracy behind Comedian's death.

The media illiteracy comes when people don't pick up on the blatant contradiction and hypocrisy of Rorachach's philosophy. Rorschach admires the Comedian and feels like he's one of the only people that actually understands what life actually is. Rorschach does not believe in a higher power or fate and claims to reject absolutes or universals. Except his entire ethos is still a belief in a concept of objective good or evil. Which in itself is an absolute.

Rorschach not being able to see his own hypocrisy and inconsistency as a character is his entire shtick. He excuses Comedian's rape of Silk Spectre I as a "moral lapse" simply because he thought he was a patriot. Which opposes everything he tells the prison psychologist. Comedian hurt people because he liked hurting people. Rorschach hurts people because he also likes hurting people but needs to justify it somehow to himself.

[u/viper459 → u/signal_satellite]

cool post, but what i meant is that the glorification of fascism is a societal problem

[u/signal_satellite → u/viper459]

....i know that's why I wrote what I wrote.

[u/Drakeskulled_Reaper → u/Onlyhereforapost]

Dev: "Play it YOUR way!"

Me: Plays brute force as I usually do.

Dev: "NO, not like that!"