History RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap / StarWarsTheCloneWars

* Anakin Skywalker was originally widely derided by fans in the Prequel Trilogy as being a whiny and selfish brat who failed to mesh with the Original Trilogy's heroic description of him. His ProtagonistJourneyToVillain was seen as an [[FanDislikedExplanation unsatisfying explanation]] overly reliant on his [[StrangledByTheRedString poorly done romance]], and he was widely seen as [[BadassDecay ruining the image of Darth Vader]]. ''The Clone Wars'' redeems Anakin Skywalker by portraying him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, sympathetic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively makes his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] fall to the DarkSide significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with also helps tremendously. Thanks to ''The Clone Wars'', Anakin Skywalker is viewed more as a decent character than a universally despised one.
** ''The Clone Wars''[='=] portrayal of Anakin has caused many fans to positively reevaluate the way he is in Prequel Trilogy, noting that Anakin's numerous flaws presented throughout said trilogy retroactively make logical sense (and were probably intentional, given that Anakin's issues are what led him to fall to the Dark Side in the first place) thanks to ''The Clone Wars'' along with the fact that Hayden Christensen still gave a phenomenal performance and that much of his faults lied more in external restrictions than any issues with the character. Anakin's more favorable reception with fans also strengthened when his Sequel Trilogy {{Expy}}, Kylo Ren, became similarly contentious (again, save for his acting) due to the [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants the lack of consistent script direction]], highlighting how better planned and written Anakin's story was in retrospect. When Hayden reprised his role as Anakin in ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'', his performance was widely anticipated and praised.

''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' redeems a number of divisive characters that were introduced in the Prequel Trilogy as well as the series itself.

* Anakin Skywalker was originally widely derided throughout the Prequel Trilogy as being a whiny and selfish brat who failed to mesh with the Original Trilogy's heroic description of him. His ProtagonistJourneyToVillain was seen as an [[FanDislikedExplanation unsatisfying explanation]] overly reliant on his [[StrangledByTheRedString poorly done romance]], and he was widely seen as [[BadassDecay ruining the image of Darth Vader]]. ''The Clone Wars'' redeems Anakin Skywalker by portraying him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, sympathetic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively makes his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] turn to the Dark Side significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with also helps tremendously. Thanks to ''The Clone Wars'', Anakin Skywalker is viewed more as a decent character than a universally despised one.
** ''The Clone Wars''[='=] portrayal of Anakin has caused many fans to positively reevaluate the way he is in Prequel Trilogy via justifying that Anakin's numerous flaws presented throughout said trilogy retroactively make logical sense (and were probably intentional, given that Anakin's issues is what led him to the DarkSide in the first place). They have also started to believe that Hayden Christensen gave a phenomenal performance as Anakin in the Prequel Trilogy and he was held back by the material he had to work with. The more favorable opinion of Anakin also strengthened when their Sequel Trilogy {{Expy}} Kylo Ren became similarly contentious, save for his acting, due to the [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants the lack of consistent script direction]] highlighting how better planned and written Anakin's story was in retrospect. When Hayden returned to the role of Anakin in ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'', his performance was widely anticipated and praised.

* In ''The Phantom Menace'', Watto the Toydarian was basically the worst possible antisemitic stereotype, complete with a giant hooked nose. The Clone Wars series gives the Toydarians as a whole a few episodes to showcase their sympathetic side, with the Toydarian king making it a point to say "The Toydarian people have an obligation to be compassionate", and ultimately siding with the Republic, making Watto an outlier rather than the norm.

* Anakin Skywalker was originally widely derided throughout the Prequel Trilogy as being a whiny and selfish brat who failed to mesh with the Original Trilogy's heroic description of him. His ProtagonistJourneyToVillain was seen as an [[FanDislikedExplanation unsatisfying explanation]] overly reliant on his [[StrangledByTheRedString poorly done romance]], and he was widely seen as [[BadassDecay ruining the image of Darth Vader]]. ''The Clone Wars'' redeems Anakin Skywalker by presenting him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, sympathetic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively makes his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] turn to the Dark Side significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with also helps tremendously. Thanks to ''The Clone Wars'', Anakin Skiywalker is viewed more as a decent character than a universally despised one.

* Anakin Skywalker was originally widely derided throughout the Prequel Trilogy as being a whiny and selfish brat who failed to mesh with the Original Trilogy's heroic description of him. His ProtagonistJourneyToVillain was seen as an [[FanDislikedExplanation unsatisfying explanation]] overly reliant on his [[StrangledByTheRedString poorly done romance]], and he was widely seen as [[BadassDecay ruining the image of Darth Vader]]. ''The Clone Wars'' redeems Anakin by presenting him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, sympathetic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively makes his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] turn to the Dark Side significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with also helps tremendously. Thanks to ''The Clone Wars'', Anakin is viewed more as a decent character than a universally despised one.

''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' redeems a number of characters that were introduced in the Prequel Trilogy as well as the series itself.

* Anakin Skywalker was originally a BaseBreakingCharacter at best in the Prequel Trilogy, but ''The Clone Wars'' retroactively redeems Anakin by presenting him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively make his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] turn to the Dark Side significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with helps tremendously.

* Padmé Amidala was initially unpopular for undergoing a BadassDecay throughout the Prequel Trilogy due to her very polarizing [[RomanticPlotTumor romance plot]] with Anakin in addition to being his motivation to turn to the Dark Side, but ''The Clone Wars'' retroactively redeems Padmé through presenting her with a better characterization and fleshed out role as a well-meaning politician in the Galactic Senate, portraying her relationship with Anakin as being more natural and romantic, and featuring her [[ActionGirl badassery]] when push comes to shove. The fact that Creator/CatherineTaber's performance as Padmé is much less wooden than Creator/NataliePortman's portrayal and has better dialogue helps enormously.

* During the first season, the B1-battle droids were mostly disliked by [[PeripheryDemographic older audiences]] as they felt their excessive stupidity and slapstick comic relief contributed to ''The Clone Wars''[='=] initial AnimationAgeGhetto, which also resulted in some outright questioning why they don't just get replaced with the more badass and popular commando droids (ignoring the WordOfGod justification of their high InUniverse production costs). As ''The Clone Wars'' went on, reception to them began warming up when they started [[NotSoHarmlessVillain showing their strengths]] (being [[ZergRush deadly in numbers]] and being genuinely [[NothingIsScarier intimidating when silent]]). When the later seasons became DarkerAndEdgier, the battle droid humor was less frequent to the point that it was tolerable and provided at least a little bit of levity in the darkness while still retaining both their ButtMonkey status and occasional lethality.

* Anakin Skywalker was originally a BaseBreakingCharacter at best in the Prequel Trilogy, but ''The Clone Wars'' retroactively redeems Anakin by presenting him with a stronger characterization and fleshed out role as a likable, heroic, and responsible Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic as well as a decreased tendency for {{Wangst}}. ''The Clone Wars'' also presents that Anakin will do ''anything'' to protect those he cares about and bring peace to the galaxy and reveals that he has a lot of reasons to distrust the Jedi Order, which retroactively make his eventual and [[ForegoneConclusion inevitable]] turn to the Dark Side significantly more believable than what was presented in the Prequel Trilogy. Creator/MattLanter's performance as Anakin being considered superior to Creator/HaydenChristensen's own and having much better dialogue to work with helps tremendously.

* ''Jar Jar Binks'' of all people was successfully rescued from the scrappy heap in ''The Clone Wars'' after the infamously negative reception he had back in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (yeah, you read that correctly, make no mistake). The series did so by emphasizing his friendliness as being his greatest strength to the point of being TheBeastMaster (as he once called upon a Kwazel Maw for help) in addition to playing down his clumsy side in order to make sure that it always ended up helping things more than hurting things, along with the fact that he gets to show that under his overly friendly and clumsy nature is indeed a smart guy who takes his duties seriously. His cowardly nature is also almost nowhere to be seen, even to the point of walking alone into a nest of pirates to fulfill his role as a representative of the Republic. His most highly regarded episodes are those where he's paired up with another character to act as [[CloudCuckoolandersMinder a counterpart to his wackiness]] (such as C-3PO, Bail Organa, and Mace Windu). While there is still some vitriol directed towards him [[NeverLiveItDown for the reputation he has in the films]], the reception to him in the series is significantly less caustic, making him more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than the near-universally loathed [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] that he was originally. Ahmed Best coming out to reveal the depression and struggles he's experienced as a result of the critical & fan backlash also persuaded many to change their minds on Jar Jar Binks, or at the very least that their dislike of the character had gone too far. His rescue went so far that, while maintaining his status as TheFool, he managed to do enough good and achieve enough popularity that a great deal of Fanon has determined he's Force Sensitive, if a little dim. He still paints the line on racist caricature...

* Ahsoka Tano is one of the poster childs for this. She began with having levels of hatred that were similar to those of Jar Jar Binks as a result of being mostly perceived as a CreatorsPet, SpotlightStealingSquad, and BrattyHalfPint who was just there to [[KidAppealCharacter appeal to the younger audiences]]. However, her overall reception became more positive by the time of the second season after being pulled back from appearing in nearly every episode (which prevented her from being one of the more talkative characters in ''The Clone Wars'') and having [[ADayInTheLimelight several well regarded episodes]] that highlighted [[CharacterDevelopment her own personal growth]]. The emotional response to [[spoiler:Ahsoka's decision to leave her master and the Jedi Order]] has made it safe to say that her "Scrappy" status has been revoked as Ahsoka is now considered a major fan favorite character.

** It's been said that Ahsoka's rescuing was actually [[BatmanGambit a plan by Dave Filoni]] from the start. He knew that fans would hate a brand new character mingling with establishing characters, thus set her up intentionally as the head-strong, energetic and know-it-all Padawan she first emerged as. Through those specific episodes dedicated to her, Ahsoka grew as a character and ultimately won over her detractors.

* ''Jar Jar Binks'' of all people was successfully rescued from the scrappy heap in ''The Clone Wars'' after the infamously negative reception he had back in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (yeah, you read that correctly, make no mistake). The series did so by emphasizing his friendliness as being his greatest strength to the point of being TheBeastMaster (as he once called upon a Kwazel Maw for help) in addition to playing down his clumsy side in order to make sure that it always ended up doing more good than harm along with the fact that he gets to show that under his overly friendly and clumsy nature is indeed a smart guy who takes his duties seriously. His cowardly nature is also almost nowhere to be seen, even to the point of walking alone into a nest of pirates to fulfill his role as a representative of the Republic. His most highly-regarded episodes are those where he's paired up with another character to act as [[CloudCuckoolandersMinder a counterpart to his wackiness]] (such as C-3PO, Bail Organa, and Mace Windu). While there is still some vitriol directed towards him [[NeverLiveItDown for the reputation he has in the films]], the reception to him in the series is significantly less caustic, making him more of a BaseBreakingCharacter than the near-universally loathed [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] that he was originally. Ahmed Best coming out to reveal the depression and struggles he's experienced as a result of the critical & fan backlash also persuaded many to change their minds on Jar Jar Binks, or at the very least that their dislike of the character had gone too far. His rescue went so far that, while maintaining his status as TheFool, he managed to do enough good and achieve enough popularity that a great deal of Fanon has determined he's Force Sensitive, if a little dim. He still paints the line on racist caricature...

* In ''The Phantom Menace'', Watto the Toydarian was basically the worst possible anti-semitic stereotype, complete with a giant hooked nose. The Clone Wars series gives the Toydarians as a whole a few episodes to showcase their sympathetic side, with the Toydarian king making it a point to say "The Toydarian people have an obligation to be compassionate", and ultimately siding with the Republic.