History YMMV / Ramayana

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Hanuman. Big time. The fact he probably was the inspiration for fellow darkhorse Son Wukong is telling of how popular the monkey was.

* AngstAversion: A lot of readers have this attitude when hearing about the epic's Seventh Kandha or ''Uttarakandha'' where all the awesomeness is undone and Rama banishes Sita, turning the original EarnYourHappyEnding story [[AllForNothing into a]] [[ShaggyDogStory huge]] [[DownerEnding bummer]] in the name of enforcing strict orthodoxy. The fact that it was added only much later than the original six which does end on a happy note doesn't help.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A number of scholars, readers and cultures reject the Seventh Kandha completely since the whole episode makes Rama - the "Perfect Man & King", look like a pushover, complete heel and total idiot, delivered a hilariously awful HappyEndingOverride, [[BrokenAesop unintentionally subverts much of the Aesop]] and reads like a bizarro "What If?" story. Modern day Hindi and adaptations tend to either ignore it and worship Sita and Rama as a OneTruePairing or include the segment to deliver a giant WhatTheHellHero speech towards Rama. The fact that it was only added much later to the original six helps.

* ValuesDissonance: From the Seventh Kandha (The later edition with the DownerEnding):

* ValuesDissonance:

*** Both of these things...not surprisingly...occur in the Seventh Kandha (The later edition with the DownerEnding).

* DracoInLeatherPants: Ravana, believe it or not! Numerous alternative versions, Kamban's for example, show him as a king esteemed for his knowledge, fighting prowess and talent in the arts and he's had a place in Shiva temples in the South, thus making this trope OlderThanFeudalism. (You can see this in ''WesternAnimation/SitaSingsTheBlues''.)
** Sri Lanka, Ravana's kingdom, is also a real place, and the island has its own version of the Ramayana. Ravana was seen as a [[http://www.srilanka.travel/ravana benevolent tyrant who helped Lanka flourish]]. Rather than a demon sorcerer, the Sri Lankan version has Ravana as a full blown ScienceHero who's technology, engineering, and medical knowledge was mistaken for magic.

* TheWoobie: Sita. Willingly got exiled for her love of Rama/Kidnapped by Ravanna. Was forced by the people to go through the Agni Pariksha. In one ending, she was exiled ''again'' by the very husband she willingly was being exiled for the first time for because he is ashamed that she is kidnapped by Ravanna. Her final fate in that ending is raising her twin sons scared, humiliated and alone, all because events she cannot control. The poor girl can't catch a break.

* AngstAversion: Combine with EndingAversion, a lot of readers have this attitude when hearing about the epic's Seventh Kandha or ''Uttarakandha'' where all the awesomeness is undone and Rama banishes Sita, turning the original EarnYourHappyEnding story [[AllForNothing into a]] [[ShaggyDogStory huge]] [[DownerEnding bummer]] in the name of enforcing strict orthodoxy. The fact that it was added only much later than the original six which does end on a happy note doesn't help.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Ravana, believe it or not! Numerous alternative versions (Kamban's for eg.) show him as a king esteemed for his knowledge, fighting prowess and talent in the arts and he's had a place in Shiva temples in the South, thus making this trope OlderThanFeudalism. (You can see this in ''WesternAnimation/SitaSingsTheBlues''.)
** Sri Lanka, Ravana's kingdom, is also a real place, and the island has its own version of the Ramayana. Ravana was seen as a [[http://www.srilanka.travel/ravana benevolent tyrant who helped Lanka flourish]].
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Hanuman.

** Rama has a man killed because the man was of a Lower Caste and performing austerities and devotions that were meant for Upper Caste people. This is to show that Caste Divisions are super-rigid and meant to be enforced [[note]]Never mind that the Caste System, when interpreted as a system of strict social stratification rather than something more fluid as it was in the beginning, is a cruel human rights abuse. Also; the man was performing penances and devotions, surely his heart was in the right place. The spirit of the Law should always trump the letter[[/note]].

* TheWoobie: Sita. Willingly got exiled for her love of Rama/Kidnapped by Ravanna. Was forced by the people to go through the Agni Pariksha. In one ending, she was exiled ''again'' by the very husband she willingly was being exiled for the first time for because he is ashamed that she is kidnapped by Ravanna. Her final fate in that ending is raising her twin son scared, humiliated and alone, all because events she cannot control. The poor girl can't catch a break.

** Rama is "forced" to banish Sita because of some false rumors spread by some misogynist {{Domestic Abuse}}r washer-man. Rather than stand up for his wife and find a way to prove that she didn't mess-around with Ravana and thus make both the Kingdom and his family happy, he just wimps out and banishes her, thus giving credence to that washer-man's lie. This is apparently to show that a King should put Kingdom first, even if it means sacrificing his family... over a vicious ''lie'', which makes it Adharma (i.e. something you're ''really'' not supposed to do). And that's still not mentioning the truly horrible, misogynistic DoubleStandard being enforced.

** Rama is "forced" to banish Sita because of some false rumors spread by some misogynist {{Domestic Abuse}}r washer-man. Rather than stand up for his wife and find a way to prove that she didn't mess-around with Ravana and thus make both the Kingdom and his family happy, he just wimps out and banishes her, thus giving credence to that washer-man's lie. This is apparently to show that a King should put Kingdom first, even if it means sacrificing his family [[note]]Never mind it was over a vicious LIE... [[BrokenAesop which would be Adharma]]. And that still not mentioning awful sexual/gender DoubleStandard enforced[[/note]].

* BadassDecay: Ravana has been changed in his portrayal of being a BigBad to an AntiHero whose one weakness was kidnapping women that were not his. To be fair, some passages of Valmiki somewhat lead to this interpretation. See DracoInLeatherPants below, which perhaps makes this one of the oldest ones ever.

* AngstAversion: Combine with EndingAversion, a lot of readers have this attitude when hearing about the epic's Seventh Kandha or ''Uttarakandha'' where all the awesomeness is undone and Rama banishes Sita, turning the original EarnYourHappyEnding story [[AllForNothing into a]] [[ShaggyDogStory huge]] [[DownerEnding bummer]] in the name of enforcing strict orthodoxy.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A number of scholars, readers and cultures reject the Seventh Kandha completely since the whole episode makes Rama - the "Perfect Man & King", look like a pushover, complete heel and total idiot, delivered a hilariously awful HappyEndingOverride, [[BrokenAesop unintentionally subverts much of the Aesop]] and reads like a bizarro "What If?" story. Modern day Hindi and adaptations tend to either ignore it and worship Sita and Rama as a OneTruePairing or include the segment to deliver a giant WhatTheHellHero speech towards Rama.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rama is a ''terrible'' husband. He only treats Sita's rescue as a duty. Furthermore, after Sita's rescue, he not only forces her to undergo the Agni Pariksha, but even after she passes this, he ''still'' exiles her because of an idiotic JerkAss who claims she's been DefiledForever. Ultimately, he teats [[TheWoobie Sita]] so badly that she's DrivenToSuicide.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rama is a ''terrible'' husband. He only treats Sita's rescue as a duty. Furthermore, after Sita's rescue, he not only forces her to undergo the Agni Pariksha, but even after she passes this, he ''still'' exiles her because of an idiotic JerkAss who claims she's been DefiledForever. Ultimately, he teats [[TheWoobie Sita]] so badly that she's Driven ToSuicide.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rama is a ''terrible'' husband. He only treats Sita's rescue as a duty. Furthermore, after Sita's rescue, he not only forces her to undergo the Agni Pariksha, but even after she passes this, he ''still'' exiles her because of an idiotic JerkAss who claims she's been DefiledForever. The event of the Seventh Kandha only helps cements him into this trope.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rama is this thanks to ValuesDissonance. His treatment of Sita is terrible from doubting her fidelity despite her loyalty to him to only treating rescuing her as some kind of duty. The event of the Seventh Kandha only helps cements him into this trope.

** Rama is "forced" to banish Sita because of some false rumors spread by some misogynist DomesticAbuser washer-man. Rather than stand up for his wife and find a way to prove that she didn't mess-around with Ravana and thus make both the Kingdom and his family happy, he just wimps out and banishes her, thus giving credence to that washer-man's lie. This is apparently to show that a King should put Kingdom first, even if it means sacrificing his family [[note]]Never mind it was over a vicious LIE... [[BrokenAesop which would be Adharma]]. And that still not mentioning awful sexual/gender DoubleStandard enforced[[/note]].

** Rama has a man killed because the man was of a Lower Caste and performing austerities and devotions that were meant for Upper Caste people. This is to show that Caste Divisions are super-rigid and meant to be enforced [[note]]Never mind that the Caste System, when interpreted as a system of strict social stratification rather than something more fluid as it was in the beginning, is a cruel human rights abuse. Also; the man was performing penances and devotions, surely his heart was in the right place. The spirit of the Law should always trump the Letter[[/note]].

** Rama is "forced" to banish Sita because of some false rumors spread by some misogynist DomesticAbuser washer-man. Rather than stand up for his wife and find a way to prove that she didn't mess-around with Ravana and thus make both the Kingdom and his family happy, he just wimps out and banishes her, thus giving credence to that washer-man's lie. This is apparently to show that a King should put Kingdom first, even if it means sacrificing his family [[note]]Never mind it was over a vicious LIE... [[BrokenAesop which would be Adharma]]. And that still not mention awful sexual/gender DoubleStandard enforced[[/note]].
** Rama has a man killed because the man was of a Lower Caste and performing austerities and devotions that were meant for Upper Caste people. This is to show that Caste Divisions are super-rigid and meant to be enforced [[note]]Never mind that The Caste System, when interpreted as a system of strict social stratification rather than something more fluid as it was in the beginning, is a cruel human rights abuse. Also; the man was performing penances and devotions, surely his heart was in the right place. The spirit of the Law should always trump the Letter[[/note]].

* TheWoobie: Sita. Willingly get exiled for her love of Rama/Kidnapped by Ravanna. Was forced by the people to go through the Agni Pariksha. In one ending, she was exiled ''again'' by the very husband she willingly being exiled for the first time for because he is ashamed that she is kidnapped by Ravanna. Her final fate in that ending is raising her twin son scared, humiliated and alone, all because events she cannot control. The poor girl can't catch a break.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A number of scholars, readers and cultures reject the Seventh Kandha completely since the whole episode makes Rama - the "Perfect Man & King", look like a pushover, complete heel and total idiot, delivered a hilariously awful HappyEndingOverride, [[BrokenAesop unintentionally subverts much of the Aesop]] and reads like a bizarro "What If?" story. Modern day Hindi and adaptations tend to ignore it and worship Sita and Rama as a OneTruePairing.

* AngstAversion: Combine with EndingAversion, a lot of readers have this attitude when hearing about the epic's Seventh Kandha or ''Uttarakandha''... Where all the awesomeness is undone and Rama banishes Sita, turning the original EarnYourHappyEnding story [[AllForNothing into a]] [[ShaggyDogStory huge]] [[DownerEnding bummer]] in the name of enforcing strict orthodoxy.

* FanonDiscontinuity: A number of scholar and cultures reject the Seventh Kandha completely since the whole episode makes Rama... the "Perfect Man & King" look like a pushover, complete heel and total idiot, not only subverts a HappyEnding, it unintentionally subverts much of the Aesop and reads like a bizarro "What If?" story.

** Rama is "forced" to banish Sita because of some false rumors spread by some misogynist DomesticAbuser washer-man. Rather than stand up for his wife and find a way to prove that she didn't mess-around with Ravana and thus make everyone... both the Kingdom and his family... happy, he just wimps out and banishes her, thus giving credence to that washer-man's lie. This is apparently to show that a King should put Kingdom first, even if it means sacrificing his family [[note]]Never mind it was over a vicious LIE... [[BrokenAesop which would be Adharma]]. Also; that awful sexual/gender DoubleStandard is enforced[[/note]].
** Rama has a man killed because the man was of a Lower Caste and performing austerities and devotions that were meant for Upper Caste people. This is to show that Caste Divisions are super-rigid and meant to be enforced [[note]]Never mind that The Caste System, when interpreted as a system of strict social stratification... rather than something more fluid, as it was in the beginning... is a cruel human rights abuse. Also; the man was performing penances and devotions, surely his heart was in the right place. The spirit of the Law should always trump the Letter[[/note]].

* ValueDissonance: